Snacks and Strangers
by Chibitami
Summary: (BNHA OC) Millie encounters someone at the Family Mart that she's never seen before. And there's no better way to make friends than with snacks, right?
1. Chapter 1

It's funny what can happen at a convenience store. You can find a brand of candy bar that you haven't seen in a decade, you can make a new friend in the form of a tired and overworked cashier in need of a raise, or you can meet a cute reptilian guy in the pastry aisle that's trying to shoplift.

Prior to the creation of the UA dorms, Millie Jones was living in a small flat in Kamino Ward. The rent didn't cost much, the landlord didn't mind Millie decorating the entire space with glittery pastels and Looney Tunes posters, and there was a Family Mart across the street that made the best late-night snacks in the universe! Well okay, maybe not the best, but when you're a transfer student that's training to become a Hero, there are only so many places that are open 24 hours and carry your favorite pastries and fast foods. Millie got most of her food from that Family Mart, and she enjoyed getting a few ice cream sandwiches and watching the people go by. She made friends with a few of the regular customers: the old man who enjoyed showing off pictures of his Pro Hero granddaughter, the exhausted single mother and her three kids who Millie loved to pieces (and offers to babysit them any time their mom needed a break), the insurance accountant who only drank black coffee and would rant about how reckless Heroes were going to turn his hair grey before he turned 30…

There was one person she met that stood out in her mind, though. She first saw him on a late Saturday night with a few sweet buns in each hand. He was dressed in a simple grey hoodie and some tattered jeans, but he definitely wasn't mundane-looking; his skin was scaly and a vibrant shade of green, and his shoulder-length hair was dark purple. Millie noted that it was the exact same shade as her favorite grape soda, and wondered if he dyed it or if he just naturally had cool purple hair. Either way, he was super cute. He had a mysterious air about him, and Millie swore she'd seen him before. Maybe he was an actor or something trying to keep a low profile?

The stranger stuffed a few of the buns into his hoodie's pockets, and turned to go to the front of the store. He glanced at the register; the cashier's nose was buried in a gossip magazine, and she hadn't even noticed that there were any other customers besides Millie. He tentatively took a few steps forward towards the front door, but stopped in his tracks when he heard a bubbly voice behind him.

"Hi~!"

He jumped at the sound and whipped around to face Millie, with a look on his face like he was expecting a fight. After realizing the person behind him wasn't a cop or Hero, and was in fact a high school girl dressed like a discounted Rainbow Brite doll, he relaxed a bit.

"Uh…hi?" He shifted uncomfortably. This was so awkward. All he wanted to do was get out of this stupid store with a few buns so he could have something to eat this week. This wasn't his first time grabbing a few snacks and leaving without the cashier noticing, but he was usually at the store by himself. And now he wasn't.

Millie twirled a finger around one of her pigtails. "I know this is super random and out of nowhere, but I wanted to say you look really cool! I've never met someone with purple hair colored like that. It really brings out the green in your uh, scales."

The stranger was taken aback. Had she really not noticed he was planning on stealing? And wait…did she just call him…cool-looking? He blushed. "Th-thanks," he replied. Squeaking out a single word counts as a reply, right? He didn't know how to respond; plenty of people had commented about his appearance before, but never in a nice way.

Millie giggled at his shy response and looked down at his hoodie pockets, which were bursting with different pastries. "Ohmygosh, they restocked their dorayaki shelf!?" She turned towards the cashier, who was still buried in her magazine. "Yuki, what the heck? I thought you guys weren't getting more until later this week!" Yuki shrugged, and Millie faced the stranger again after letting out a small huff. "I love the dorayaki here," she gushed. "I could it eat every day, but they only put out 20 of 'em on the shelf each week and that's not nearly enough for me. So the manager said the next time he ordered some more, he'd get an extra box and just sell it to me in bulk from now on." She pouted. "But I guess Yuki forgot to save my box or something and just put all of them on the shelves…"

She looked at the shelf with the remaining dorayaki, and then at the stranger with his full pockets. "Hey, how many of those do you have? Ten or so?"

The stranger glanced at his pocket pastries. "Yeah," he replied. "But there's plenty on the shelf if you want some."

Millie started stuffing her purse with the forty leftover packages. The stranger noticed that despite how small it looked on the outside, the dorayaki fit inside easily; there weren't even any sticking out of the top. She looked back at the stranger with a bright smile.

"My name's Millie, by the way." She held out her arm for a handshake. "I live across the street, so I'm always in here."

The stranger just looked at her outstretched hand for a few seconds. He tentatively shook her hand, and noted how soft it was. Though when you have scales, everything feels softer by comparison. "I'm Iguchi," he replied. "Shuichi Iguchi." He gave a small, nervous smile. This was the longest interaction he'd ever had with a girl that didn't end with him made fun of at school the next day. "And, uh, your hair's cool too! Very…bouncy." He immediately felt his cheeks turn pink. Bouncy? What kind of compliment is 'Your hair is bouncy?'

Millie laughed. "Yeah, I get that a lot," she replied. "Hey, do you wanna eat some of these with me outside?" She patted her purse. "Snacks are better when you have someone to eat them with."

Shuichi stiffened. He had no money to pay for these buns and one potential witness to him shoplifting. Was she trying to trick him into confessing he was going to steal them? He thought for a second. No…nobody would go through this much just to get someone on the hook for stealing a few pastries from a convenience store. Still, he had to find a way to pay for these.

He decided he'd try to bluff his way out. He started to reach for his "wallet", and acted surprised when he didn't feel anything. "Hmm…well I guess I would," he replied in a super natural, 'I'm totally not acting' voice, "But I can't find my wallet! Maybe I dropped it outside. I'll go check!" He took a few steps towards the front door, ready to break out into a run the second he was outside. Iguchi, you criminal genius.

Millie let out another giggle. "No, no," she replied, "You don't have to pay! The manager let me buy the bulk box of dorayaki in advance, so the ones on the shelf are already paid for." She walked up to him and held open the door. "I was gonna let you have the ones you wanted, and we could eat together! And, like, get to know each other and stuff."

Iguchi paused for a second. He was actually going to get out of this with a bunch of free buns and not deal with the awkward fallout of getting caught? He followed Millie outside. This girl was a bit weird, but you can't say no to free snacks, right? "Yeah, okay," he eagerly replied. They started walking towards a small seating area meant for customers who wanted to enjoy their food outside. He watched her fish out one of her sweets from her purse and take a gigantic bite. "Just out of curiosity, are you usually this nice to people you've just met?"

She shrugged and leaned against a small chair while she ate her dorayaki. "Yeah, pretty much," she replied with a mouth of crumbs. She waited a bit to talk again after her mouth wasn't stuffed with food, and smirked. "But I'm always this nice to people who I think are cute."


	2. Chapter 2

Shuichi felt his cheeks burn as he registered what Millie had just said. This was the second time she (or anyone really) complimented his looks. "I...uh...thanks," he replied, wishing the shakiness in his voice wasn't so noticeable.

Millie stuffed another dorayaki in her mouth. If she had noticed his cheeks turn red or the tremor in his voice, she didn't let on about it. "Shmlodyulivnrby? I-" She paused and swallowed. "So do you live nearby? I've never seen you here before. And I come here like, four times a day sometimes."

He sat in the chair next to her and took another bite of his bun. "Nah, I don't live here," he replied. "I uh, sometimes come around here to meet with...friends. Hang out for a bit, and then go home. I was just hungry so I came in for a snack." _Not exactly a lie, _he thought. _The League are the closest thing I have to friends. And I was hungry; not like there's much food at my place. Vigilantes don't really get steady pay..._

Millie leaned back in her chair. "Well, you've got good taste in snacks," she replied playfully. "I've been to every bakery and candy shop in Kamino Ward, but this Family Mart has some of the best sweets." She grinned and glanced at the sign above the back entrance, labeled 'Family Mart' in pristine blue and white lettering. "Who would've thought, right? I'd never even heard of a Family Mart until I moved here. And convenience stores that have really good food are still so weird to me. Like back at home, there's candy and stuff but you don't go there for **good** food, you go there to get something cheap while you fill up your car." She looked back at Spinner and twirled her hair with her finger. "I'm rambling, aren't I?" she said with an apologetic smile.

Shuichi gave a small shrug. "It's cool," he casually replied. "I'm not much of a talker. Even thought I'm talking...right...now. But, uh, you know what I mean." He felt his cheeks burn again. _What the hell was that? Be less awkward, stupid, this girl likes you; don't screw up now!_ He tried to shift back into 'cool guy' mode. "Where are you from?"

"I'm from Oregon," Millie said brightly. "Coos Bay, it's this town on the beach. Well, if you've never been there it's just _a _beach, not _the _beach. But to me it's _the _beach." She unwrapped another dorayaki. "My mom is a hippie and makes art to sell to tourists. Sculptures, cool shells, colored sand and stuff. And my dad sells fish at one of the farmer's market stalls." She took a large bite of dorayaki this time, instead of swallowing one whole. "I came to Japan for school, but sometimes I miss home a lot." She paused. "I mean, not the convenience stores. But everything else!"

_Wait, she came here to go to school? Don't tell me..._ "Are you studying to be a Hero then?"

"Yeah," she replied. "I got into UA last year!" She smiled and twirled her hair as she talked. "I want to be a Hero that works with kids. I mean, a lot of kids look up to Pro Heroes but a lot of Heroes have trouble interacting with them. And I get it, a lot of Heroes think their main goal is to take down Villains, but I want to focus on rescuing people and making them feel better in scary situations. Like, say a kid gets kidnapped by a Villain. He'd feel scared and unable to do anything, but then a Hero shows up and saves them. But most Heroes just make sure the kid is uninjured and once they're back with their parents, it's like 'Well, my work's done. Don't need to make sure the kid feels safe or anything even though he just got kidnapped or anything.' " She rolled her eyes. "Like this one Hero, Endeavor? He's the Number 2 Hero in Japan and he is _terrible _with kids. There was one time where he was trying to get through a crowd of reporters and he knocked a kid out of the way! Imagine that, the Number 2 Hero, just pushing you aside like that when all you wanted was to see a Hero you liked."

As she rambled on about her heroic aspirations, Spinner tuned out her words and felt his stomach sink. _Great, she's a Hero in training. And she's a UA student! She's working hard to become another Pro Hero, rushing in to punch out Villains and uphold a system that shits on everyone not born 'right'. Of course, the one time someone likes me they have to be a Hero wannabe._ He zoned out and stared straight ahead at a few empty juice crates and a nearby alley as she continued talking. Out the corner of his eye, he could see her pigtails bouncing as she animatedly talked further. He also noticed something move near the small alley behind her; some more crates? A stray cat? It didn't matter though, he wasn't focusing on anything but his disappointment.

Millie finally stopped talking to take another bite of dorayaki, and remained silent for a second. "But...sometimes I feel really...weird. About wanting to be a Hero, I mean. Like sometimes I dunno if that's what I should do if I want to help people."

Shuichi snapped out of his own thoughts. "What do you mean? Isn't that what a Hero _does_?" he replied, sounding a bit more snarky than he had meant to be.

Millie frowned. "Well, that's what I always thought," she replied pensively. "I mean a lot of people want to be Heroes, but not all of them want to do it to save people. Some just want to be famous, some just want to be popular, and some people act like they only want to be a Hero so they can beat people up. And some Heroes are just...jerks!" She crossed her arms and cocked her head at Spinner. "Like Endeavor is a huge jerk. And he doesn't seem _happy_ saving people, it's like it's just a bonus to beating the crap out of someone."

Shuichi raised his eyebrows. _Okay, so she's not 100% brainwashed by that 'Heroes are perfect' crap. _"Yeah," he agreed. "Some Heroes should be in a different job. If you don't make it a priority, or treat it like a side job, I mean. Like the Pros who have endorsements and stuff?" He snorted. "They act like celebrities instead of real Heroes."

Millie gave a sigh of relief. "Right? I just wanted to be a Hero that can make anyone feel better, even when they think the world's gonna explode. Like All Might! I'm not as good at punching people like he is, but I want to do what he does; where just by being there, people feel stronger, and safer, and..." She gave Spinner a small smile. "And happier."

Shuichi felt his heartbeat flutter a bit when she smiled at him. _Oh my God that's not just a dumb thing from movies; my heart actually feels like it's skipping. _He was silent for a few seconds, and realized he should probably say something. "W-well, you sound like a real Hero," he replied. "I mean I know we've just met, but you're already more noble than the fakes that are already Pros in my book. You know how a Hero should be, so as long as you stay true to that you're bound to become a great one."

It was Millie's turn to blush. "Awwww, thank you!" she replied. "I don't usually open up like that about serious stuff. I mean I word vomit a lot, but mostly about tv shows and little everyday things." She paused for a moment. "Hey, if you want, could I get your number? Maybe next time you're here to visit your friends, we could hang out at my place! I have a ton of snacks at my apartment, and my couch is way more comfy than these chairs." She took a pastel rainbow-colored cell phone out of her purse.

_She's asking me...for my number? So we can hang out again? _Shuichi blinked in disbelief. _This is actually happening. _"Uh, yeah, sure!" he said, his voice about a half-octave higher than usual. He gave her a number that belonged to the disposable "burner" phone he used; as much as he liked her, he knew it'd be risky to give an aspiring Pro-Hero his actual number when he was a League member _and _a die-hard follower of Stain.

She finished typing her new contact page, and sent a text to make sure she had the right number. "There! I just sent you a message, so hopefully I got the right number." Spinner felt a faint buzz in his right pocket, and he flipped open his phone. Sure enough, he had a text from a new number:

** Hiiiiii! (=^.^=) from Millie, 3**

Spinner noticed that he didn't just have one new message. Underneath her text, there was a few others from his fellow League member Magne.

**Next meeting is tomorrow at 10pm**

** Also are u headed to the station too? We can ride the train out of Kamino together if u want. Cut through the alley and catch up on the way there :D I'll meet u behind one of the stores**

** Just heard u (at least I THINK it was u) talking with someone. New recruit?**

** OMG are you on a date**

** OMG YOU ARE**

** THAT'S SO CUTE**

** Shit u didn't see me right? I wanted to get a better look at u guys :3**

** U are so sweet together! :D She's so cuuuute (I can only see the back of her head but still)**

** I'll stop creeping on u, heading to the station now. u HAVE to tell me all about her. Either on the train back together or tomorrow after meeting. Big Sis wants DETAILS**

Spinner's eyes widened. He thought back to when he had seen something moving in the alley behind Millie. _Now that I think about it, whatever moved was way too tall to be cat...It was Magne!? _

Millie cocked her head. "Did it go through to your phone?" she asked. "I thought I put it in right..."

"No, it did! I just saw some messages I didn't notice earlier," he stammered hastily. "Just one of my friends asking me if we were taking the same train home later." He snapped his phone shut and put it in his pocket. "I should go meet her, actually. Our usual train is coming pretty soon." He slowly rose out of his chair and put his last remaining dorayaki in his pocket.

Millie got up as well. "Yeah, I should head home soon too," she replied. "I was gonna catch up on the new season of this show I like, and I have a bunch of episodes left." She slipped her phone back in her purse and headed towards the back door of the Family Mart after giving her new friend a small wave. "See you later, Shuichi!"

He waved back, and started to walk towards the nearby alley. As he passed it, he stopped and hesitated before whipping out his phone to text Magne.

**Heading towards the station rn, if you still haven't caught a ride back to your place**

** And yeah, she is pretty cute**


	3. Chapter 3

The train ride back to Spinner's apartment was uneventful. Magne had already gotten onto a train by the time he had gotten to the station, so he waited in silence for the next train out of Kamino. There weren't many passengers onboard, and he had an entire row of seats to himself. He looked at Millie's text on his phone, smiling to himself and blushing. _She actually likes me, _he thought, still a little dumbfounded. _She called me cute. Me! I'm cute!_ He gently rubbed his hand against his jacket sleeve. _But she's a UA student, _he reminded himself. _Even if she's trying to be a real Hero, someone Stain would approve of, she's still surrounded by fakes that are Pros for the wrong reasons. _He frowned and looked out the window, watching the random buildings and trees pass by with a blur. _She's a Hero, and I'm a Villain. There's no getting around that. If she knew I was in the League, the __**best-case **__scenario is her never talking to me again. Or she could go to the cops, or another Pro, and all of a sudden everyone in the League is in danger. All because I got a crush._

He rested his chin in his hand and tried to think of a way this could work. _She already has doubts about some Heroes, _he reasoned. _Maybe if she knew how things really were, she'd see that the League isn't black-and-white evil. Still, how am I gonna show her that? It's probably a bad idea to just start talking politics after you just meet someone you like. "Hey, I know this is our second date and all, but I really think Hero society needs to be torn down and rebuilt. Also I know you're a Hero-in-training and a UA student, but Stain the Hero Killer (you know, the guy who injured a few of your classmates recently) really has some good ideas about how things should be!"_ He let out a small, mirthless chuckle, and ran a hand through his hair. _Why does this have to be so complicated and hard and...aaaaagh..._

His phone buzzed, and he reached to see who had texted him. It was Millie.

**Hey again! ^.^ If you're free tomorrow or the next day, I don't have any major plans this weekend. we can hang out at my place, eat cereal and watch tv and chill (ps. what's your favorite cartoon? right now mine's Goof Troop, but I have a new fave every week, lol :P)**

_Oh God, she's asking me out on a date! At her apartment! This is happening!_ He tried to formulate the perfect response message: not too clingy, but not too distant.

**Sure, that sounds awesome!**

_Tone it back there, bud._

**Sure, that sounds fun [sent]**

** My favorite cartoon? Hmm, I haven't watched any recently. When I was younger I liked Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. My mom's tv had a channel that aired it with Japanese subtitles [sent]**

A few minutes later, his phone vibrated again.

**OH MY GOSH I LOVE TMNT TOO! :D**

** I have the whole series on DVD! It's in this super cool case that looks like the Shell-Raiser van from the show, lol**

Her next message included a picture of a shelf of DVDs in her apartment. Sure enough, there was a set of discs inside a brightly colored plastic replica of the van. Spinner noticed that she had a lot of other cartoons on her shelf, most of which he hadn't ever seen before: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Rocko's Modern Life, Gargoyles, Jimmy Neutron. _I wish I knew what any of these other shows were. _The only American shows he watched were the few that his mom's old cable television had, and the only American cartoon he knew about was TMNT. He loved watching their adventures as a kid; they were heroes that everyone thought were cool and brave, and they looked a lot like Spinner. Mutant-type Quirk users were usually looked down upon, but seeing a group of amphibious teenagers kick butt and have fun with their friends gave Spinner a feeling of comfort and hope when he was young. Then he grew up, and he realized that the world didn't think people that looked like him were as 'radical' as Mikey, Leo, Donatello, and Raph. Quite the opposite, actually.

He texted her again:

**That's awesome!**

_Should I dial it back? _he thought. _No, I won't. That box set is actually awesome. _He smiled to himself. _And she is, too._

**That's awesome! [sent]**

** I'm meeting with my friends again tomorrow, around 10 pm. We could hang out tomorrow afternoon before that, if that's ok with you [sent]**

He heard the train's announcer call out his stop. The doors slid open, and he silently shuffled his way off the train and out of the station. It was only a short walk from the station to his tiny ramshackle apartment, and after a few minutes of walking he was home. His phone buzzed again.

**It's a date then! ^.^ just lemme know when you're at the Kamino station and I'll meet you there tomorrow. **

He unlocked his front door, closed it, and grabbed a bottle of water from a mini-fridge before settling onto his futon. The whole time, he had an ear-to-ear grin on his face. _"It's a date!" AAAAAAAAH! I have a date tomorrow!_ He took a hearty swig of water, his chest puffed out with the confidence of a king. _**I **__have a date! _ He set his water aside and charged his phone; afterwards, he curled up in his bed. _I don't even care about the whole "she's a Hero, I'm a Villain' thing right now, _he thought blissfully_. I'm just gonna enjoy tomorrow afternoon, then go to the League meeting, and deal with it another day. Because tomorrow, I have a date!_


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, Spinner's day started the same way it usually did. Wake up to his cell phone alarm at 10:00 am, hit snooze for ten minutes, and then roll out of bed. This time though, he felt excited and giddy to start the day. He leapt out of bed and made a beeline for his cell phone that had been charging across the room all night. _Did she text me anything while I was sleeping? Maybe she wants me to come over at a specific time..._

Sure enough, she had texted him while he had been sleeping.

**heyyy! I'm getting my place cleaned up so it's not a total disaster when you get here, is it cool if you take a train that gets to Kamino at around 3 pm? Also would you wanna watch TMNT or something else when you get here? **

He quickly Googled the train schedule to Kamino Station, and set an alarm on his phone for when he should leave if he wanted to catch the right train in time.

**Yeah, no problem [sent]**

** And TMNT's perfect. See you at 3 [sent]**

_Okay, it's around 10:15 am now, and I have to leave for the station at 2:30. That's 4 hours and 15 minutes to get ready for this and look presentable. _He looked down at himself; he hadn't changed out of last night's clothes, his hair was greasy and in need of a shower, and his scales were flaky and shedding. _How do I make this presentable?_

He grabbed a protein bar from his pantry door and walked to his bathroom. He turned the shower faucet on and ate the protein bar while he stripped out of his grungy hoodie and jeans. After haphazardly throwing his laundry in a pile on the floor, he hopped into the shower.

He glanced at the two soap bars near him; one was seafoam green, while the other was white. _Pine Spring or unscented? _He thought for a moment. _Pine Spring smells better, but it can irritate my scales if I use too much. So I'll smell super manly but be flaking and shedding all over her apartment, and she'd get so grossed out by me that she wouldn't talk to me again. _He opted for the white unscented soap, and grabbed some shampoo for his hair as well.

Bathing was always a weird experience for Spinner. Since he had reptilian scales he didn't need to do it as often as everyone else, and when he did bathe it was usually because he was shedding. His scales were sensitive and most soaps would irritate them, causing him to shed even **more**, so it was better to use a basic unscented brand or plain water. Any shampoo he used would irritate his skin, so whenever he washed his hair he would just bend his head back as much as possible to avoid any runoff gunking up his scales. His mom always enjoyed giving him baths when he was little. She'd wrap him up in warm towels afterward and rub his scales with some mineral oil, and jokingly asked if he liked his 'spa day'.

He stepped out of the shower, and dried himself off. After carefully wrapping his hair up in a towel, he grabbed a bottle of mineral oil from his bathroom cabinet. _This stuff is way too expensive,_ he thought while eyeing the label. There weren't many places that sold the stuff outside of pet stores, and Spinner had always been self-conscious every time he bought some. He could always feel the eyes of other people staring at him whenever he went out, but pet stores were a particular brand of embarassing. It made him feel less like a human being and more like an oversized lizard that could walk and talk. Still, it was good stuff. He poured a handful of oil onto his palm and massaged it into his shoulders and neck, where he sheds the most. _But today, I'm treating myself. _

Spinner wrapped himself in another towel, and settled onto a plush reclining chair in the living room. He checked the time on his phone. _11:00 am. I've got time to chill for a bit before I get dressed. _He set his phone down and grabbed the half-full bottle of water from his room, and then returned to the reclining chair. He scrolled through his phone, checking news sites for any new articles related to Stain. Nothing new, just more articles about him being imprisoned in Tartarus. _I can't believe he's actually there. _Spinner felt a knot forming in his stomach the more he stared at the headlines: **Dangerous Hero-Killer Finally Placed in Tartarus, Sadistic Serial-Killer Villain Behind Bars**..._He was trying to help you people, _he thought incredulously. _Would you put a garbageman in jail for taking out the trash? Taking out fake Heroes is just as much of a public service! _

His thoughts were interrupted when his phone's ringtone started playing. He flinched at the sudden noise, and looked at the Caller ID. _It's Millie! Oh shit, okay, be calm. Be cool. _He answered. "Hello?"

"Hey!" Millie chirped. "I'm making some stuff to eat for when you get here, and I wanted to know if you had a preference. Are you a chocolate fan, or do you prefer vanilla?"

Spinner glanced at his nearly empty mini-fridge. _Are you serious? I'll eat anything as long as it's free. _"Uh, either is good to me," he replied casually. "I like both, so just choose whatever you like more. What are you baking, exactly?"

Millie giggled. "It's a surprise, silly! But I'll give you a hint: it's all snacks that are themed around the Ninja Turtles. Also, I always make a bunch of leftover sweets, so if you want I can send some home with you."

Spinner glanced at his nearly-empty mini fridge, and his mouth watered at the idea of actually having something in there besides an ice tray and some frozen berries. _She is an actual angel._

"Oh! You can bring some to your friends later tonight!" Spinner tensed a bit at the mention of his 'friends'. _Today isn't just fun and games; there's work to do._

Millie continued, her voice still bubbly as ever. "Do any of them have food allergies? I can make stuff without peanut butter, and I have this gluten-free flour. It looks weird but it actually tastes pretty good..."

"No, I uh, don't think so," he replied hastily. "But I can text them and see." _Would Himiko eat something that doesn't have blood? _he thought. _Does Kurogiri even eat? _He shrugged. _I'll bring some anyway; I'm probably not the only League member strapped for cash and food at the moment. _

"Cool," Millie replied. "Aaah, I'm so excited! I'll see you in a bit. Mwah!"

If the sound of a kiss over the phone could kill a man, Spinner would've been six feet under. He felt his cheeks turn hot, and he buried his head in his hands. After recovering from that little display of affection, he sent out a group text to his fellow League members.

** [Spinner] Hey, would any of you want some sweets? I'm gonna bring some leftovers home but since there's a meeting today I was wondering if any of you guys wanted some. **

** [Toga] awwwww thanks Spinny! i'd love some ^.^**

** [Dabi] Didn't know these meetings are a potluck now, lol**

** If you're bringing ginger snaps tho, hmu**

** [Twice] THAT'S SO NICE OF YOU SPINNER**

** WHAT A SELFISH JERK YOU ARE!**

** I WANT SOME**

** COUNT ME OUT**

** [Kurogiri] I'm not a fan of desserts, but thank you.**

** [Tomura] I'll see what you bring and decide if I want something or not**

Spinner received a text outside of the group chat from Magne.

**Are you going on a date to a bakery? :o**

** Tell Pink Hair-chan I said hi!**

** Wait don't, she doesn't know me and that'd be super weird**

** AND YOU STILL HAVE TO TELL ME ABOUT HER AFTER THE MEETING!**

Spinner turned on his game console and leaned into his reclining chair. _Just one side mission in GTA, _he told himself. _And then I'll get ready. Thirty minutes, tops._

After more than a few side missions, he got another text from his phone and noticed the time- 2:09 pm.

_Shit. _

He quickly saved his game, shut the console off, and checked his phone again. He had gotten another text from Millie. An image was attached, with the caption "**everything from the oven is cooling off (finally). see you soon!" **It was a selfie, showing random bits of flour, whipped cream, and icing scattered on her lower face. She bore a cheeky grin, and Spinner saw that she had strange pink marks on her cheek that he hadn't really noticed before; it wasn't makeup, and they almost looked drawn on her like the little "blush" circles on a chibi drawing. _Huh, _Spinner remarked. _Maybe it's related to her Quirk? There's another UA student from the Sports Festival this year that had marks like that...Hopefully they aren't related or anything._

Spinner remembered the time, and rushed towards his bedroom closet to get changed. _I have to leave in about twenty minutes if I want to get to the station on time, _he thought. _What do I wear, what do I wear? _He pulled out an old but clean t-shirt. _A t-shirt on a date? What is wrong with you!? _

He threw the t-shirt on his bed and reached into the closet again. This time, he pulled out a dark red tank top with a small star emblem on the chest. _This could work, _he thought. He threw the top on and found his least-wrinkly pair of jeans. He grabbed a pair of socks from a nearby dresser drawer and the shoes he had worn last night, and went to the bathroom to check himself out in the mirror. _Okay, things are coming together, _he thought, eyeing himself. _But it needs something to tie it all together. _He scurried back to his closet and reached around for the perfect 'date outfit' accessory. The first thing he grabbed was a pink and yellow yarn sweater he had received from his grandma as a kid, complete with little flowers crocheted on the ends. _Nope, _he immediately thought as he (gently) tossed it on his bed. _It's not even the right weather for it. _

He reached in again. This time, he had grabbed his goggles in one hand, and the scarlet and white scarves that he wore when he was in his Villain outfit. _They __**do **__make me look cool, _he thought tentatively. _But it's not a good idea to wear part of my League outfit in public. _He placed them next to his grandma's sweater.

_Come on, _he thought, exasperated as he rummaged around in his closet. _There has to be something in here! _He pulled out a black jacket that he hadn't worn in a while. It was fake leather with a few silver buttons and accents, and just looking at it made Spinner feel like a cool rebel who didn't take shit from anyone. He tried it on and checked himself out in the bathroom mirror again.

_ YES. _

He quickly combed his hair, brushed his teeth, and put on a small spritz of cologne that had been hiding away in his bathroom cabinet for months without use. He looked at himself in the mirror one last time before grabbing his phone and house keys and rushing out the door. His 2:30 alarm blared, and he turned it off as he briskly walked to the train station. _I actually made it out on time, _he thought to himself. _I'm not gonna be late! _

When he arrived at the station, the next train had just pulled in and Spinner heard the placid, robotic sound of the station announcer. "Next stop, Kamino Ward." Spinner shuffled to the train and looked around for a seat. There were more people on the train than there was yesterday, and Spinner felt the stares of the other passengers as he looked around for a seat. He finally settled on a window seat near the back. When he got close to it a couple of nearby passengers made a beeline to the other side of the car, far away from him. He felt a twinge of embarrassment, but he shook it off immediately. _So they don't want to sit near me, _he thought defiantly. _Well, screw 'em. _He leaned back into his seat, a small grin on his face. _Because __**I've **__got a date in Kamino with a cute girl. And __**they're **__not invited!_


	5. Chapter 5

Before Spinner knew it, the train had arrived at Kamino. As the train came to a stop, his phone buzzed with a text from Millie.

**i'm here! :D see you in like 10 seconds**

He smirked, put his phone in his pocket, and stepped out onto the platform. Sure enough, she was standing outside. She was wearing a light green tank top, and a flowy pink skirt that resembled a watermelon (little black "seeds" polka-dotted everywhere, and a darker green border at the edge of the skirt). She had white open-toed flats on, and her hair was in pigtails again; her elastic hair ties had a little plastic watermelon in the center.

The second Millie saw Spinner, she smiled widely. She jumped up, waving her arms above her head. "Hey! Over here!" Spinner made his way to her, and she gave him a small wave. "I love your jacket," she remarked. "You look so tough and cool!"

Spinner blushed, and rubbed the back of his neck. "A-ah, thanks," he replied, his voice a bit higher than normal. "It was in the back of my closet, I haven't worn it in a while." He cleared his throat. "You, uh, look good too! Really...fruity..." _Fruity? Why can't you just call her 'cute' like a normal person, you dork? _

Millie twirled around in her skirt. "I know, right?" she replied with a smile. "I know it's March, but I was really in the mood for something summer-y." She cocked her head mischievously. "Ready to head to my place?"

Spinner nodded. "Sure. Which way are we walking?"

Millie shook her head. "We aren't!" she chirped. "It's kind of a far walk away from here, so I thought we could get there with my Quirk."

Before Spinner could react, Millie reached down and pulled off one of the polka dots from her dress. She pulled and expanded it until it was about the size of a life preserver, and slapped it onto the floor. It stuck perfectly on the pavement, and was no longer cloth; it was a real-life hole, in the middle of the subway platform. Spinner stared at it, dumbfounded, and took a few steps towards it. "So, you have a portal Quirk?" He peered through the hole she had made; he could see the front door to an apartment, on the second or third story of a building.

Millie put her hands on her hips. "Not quite," she replied playfully. "My Quirk is called Toon Force-I can do anything a cartoon can!" She took Spinner's hand, and the two of them jumped through the hole together.

They fell through the portal, and stumbled onto the entrance to her apartment. Spinner caught himself before he fell down the nearby stairs, but Millie fell face first against her door with a loud _smack!_ Immediately, he turned to her. "Are you okay?" he asked with slightly hysterical concern in his voice. Millie turned to face him, her head wobbling a bit. A few two-dimensional stars were swirling around her head, along with a few tweeting birds.

"Never better..." she replied woozily. Spinner was taken aback, and she giggled. "See? Cartoon logic!" She shook her head a bit, and waved away the birds and stars that had been dancing around her head. She reached into one of her pigtails and with a flourish, pulled out her house keys. "I can make my body go all Looney Tunes," she explained as she opened the door and beckoned Spinner inside. "But only if what I do is funny. Like, I can't just breathe fire for no reason; but if I ate something really spicy beforehand, **then **I can breathe fire and have steam come out of my ears and stuff."

The first word that came to Spinner's mind as he entered her apartment was...girly. Her living room was painted a light lavender color, and if he looked closely he saw bits of fine glitter in the paint. She had a baby pink foldout couch with various novelty pillows decorating it (one was shaped like a burger, another like a chocolate bar, etc.), and there were a few posters of various animated shows scattered along the walls. There was a large plasma television mounted on the wall across from the couch, with random stickers on the game console and DVD player underneath it. The kitchen area was directly to his right, and had a light blue tile floor. The fridge, oven, and dishwasher were in different pastels (pink fridge, blue oven, yellow dishwasher). The entire apartment smelled like cotton candy and vanilla.

Spinner stood still while Millie kicked off her shoes and scurried to the kitchen. He felt out of place among all the soft colors and glitter. He gingerly removed his shoes and placed them near the front door. When he turned around, Millie was holding large white trays of various baked goods and snacks; one in each hand, and one balancing perfectly on her head. "I hope you're hungry," she joked, setting the tray in her right hand down on a nearby table. "I know I am!"

Spinner eyed the treats on the table. There were cookies decorated like the heads of the four Ninja Turtles, pretzel sticks dipped in chocolate that resembled the weapons from the show (little chocolate covered nunchucks, sais, and katanas with a dark chocolate handle and sheath), a cake with iced spikes like Shredder's helmet and claws, and a "dessert" pizza pie made with cookie crust, whipped cream, and candy toppings. Spinner's stomach let out a deafening growl, and Millie laughed. "That's **exactly **what I wanted to hear!" She set the other two trays down, and filled a plate for herself before hopping onto her couch. She grabbed a nearby remote, and turned on the television.

"Go ahead and grab a plate," she offered, curling up onto the sofa bed. "I'll press play and we can get started!" Spinner grabbed a paper plate and took a bit of everything off of the snack trays before sitting down on the edge of the bed. Millie smirked; she could tell how nervous he was about sitting near her. She patted the space near her. "You don't have to sit on the very edge," she teased playfully. "There's plenty of room, and I promise I won't bite!"

Spinner's cheeks turned as red as the jellybeans on top of the dessert pizza. "Okay," he squeaked, inching a bit closer to her and laying down instead of sitting on the very edge of the couch. Millie pressed play on the remote, and they started episode one.

A few seasons (and a second serving of snacks) later, his nervousness had completely melted away. He and Millie pointed out all of their favorite moments and gushed about their favorite characters. And yes, they sang the opening theme song every single time it came on. "Okay, okay," Millie giggled. "Did you know that Shredder's armor is actually based off of a cheese grater? One of the show's creators was doing the dishes one night, and accidentally put his arm through one and **that's** how he got the idea. They were even gonna call him 'Grate Man'!"

Spinner snickered. "Did **you **know that the first movie was mostly shot in North Carolina and not New York City? The rooftop fight at the end uses the same set as the one from _Big Trouble in Little China_!"

Millie took a bite of a chocolate-covered pretzel and laughed. "No way! I have to look out for that the next time I watch it." She set her plate on a nearby end table and stretched her arms up. "I think I'm coming down from a sugar high," she yawned. She rested her head on Spinner's shoulder, and he tensed. _Holy shit, she's laying on me. _He glanced down at her. _What do I do? Do I just stay still? Should I hold her hand or lean on her or something? What's the ettiquitte here!?_

She looked up at him with a small, sweet smile. "You're super cool, Shuichi," she said. "Not just because you know a lot about Ninja Turtles, although that's definitely a plus." She reached for a stray jellybean on her plate, and leaned a bit more against him. "I know we've just met, but I really like spending time with you."

Spinner was glad she didn't have a mind-reading Quirk; otherwise, all she'd hear was him screaming internally. "I-uh," he stammered, trying not to short-circuit. "I like hanging out with you too." He looked down at her again. "I'm not really used to people wanting to be my friend, much less...you know..." He gestured with his hand. "But I definitely want to do it more. Hanging out, I mean. With you."

Millie cocked her head. "Why wouldn't people wanna be your friend?" she asked, confused.

Spinner felt a wave of embarassment and self-consciousness come over him. _Does she really not get it? _"Well, I have a mutant-type Quirk," he replied. "And where I grew up, out in the sticks, people just...look at you differently." His jaw tightened a bit. "I wasn't a real person, I was just the dumb lizard. I didn't have any friends at school, and people in town would act like I was a sideshow freak to gawk at."

Millie was silent. "People in the city aren't as open about it," he continued. "But they still stare and act like I'm a freak. They just whisper and mutter behind my back instead of openly calling me names. So, I've never had many friends and I've **never **had a girlf-" He stopped and cleared his throat. "Never had anyone like me...like that." He snorted. "Most people aren't really attracted to someone with scales and a weird beak-thing instead of an actual nose."

Millie wordlessly rose up to look him in the face. She looked like she was about to tear up any second. Spinner felt a twinge of embarassment; _Great, now she pities me, _he thought. _I shouldn't have said anything. _Without warning, she wrapped her arms around him and placed her head on his chest. Spinner was paralyzed with shock.

"That's so dumb!" Millie replied quietly, her voice a bit wobbly. She blushed and looked up at Spinner. "I mean, not what you said," she replied hastily. "**You're **not dumb. Those jerks in your town are. And the jerks who talk behind your back. And all the other jerks who don't wanna hang out with you just because you look different." She huffed. "I knew you were cool the first time I saw you. And it turns out, I was right! You **are **cool!"

This time, Spinner was the silent one. Millie got up and crossed her arms. "I just don't get it. Like, you're not ugly, you're actually really cute. But even if you were ugly, you shouldn't avoid someone or make fun of them because of that." Spinner noticed tendrils of smoke coming from her ears as she angrily ranted. "That's like making fun of me for my cheek marks or something; you can't change how you look, so why bother making fun of it? People are such bullies sometimes..."

Millie noticed the steam coming from her ears, and she stopped talking. She took a deep breath, and the steam dissipated after a few seconds. "Sorry," she replied, twirling one of her pigtails. "I just really, **really **don't like bullies and people who think like that." She stopped twirling her hair and looked at Spinner, who still hadn't said anything. They stared at each other in silence for a moment. He was staring wide-eyed at her.

"Nobody's ever said that to me before," he replied quietly. He looked away. "I...thanks." Millie was taken aback for a moment, and then smiled coyly.

She put her right hand over his, and he froze up. "You're welcome." She leaned forward and lightly pecked his cheek.


	6. Chapter 6

_ has stopped working._

The moment Millie's lips touched his cheek, he felt his heartbeat in his fingers. The tips of his ears felt warm and tingly. He forgot how to form words with his mouth, and all he could do was blink for a few seconds. Or minutes. Or years? The passage of time felt really weird right now.

Millie lightly squeezed his hand, and he snapped back to reality. He felt like he might be able to speak again. "Iril..ikyu," he squeaked. Okay, so he couldn't form actual words yet. But he was able to talk, so that was an improvement.

Millie giggled and reached for a cookie from her plate. "Iril-ikyu too," she joked, taking a bite. She leaned back onto the couch and glanced at the television. They had missed the last half of the episode they were currently watching, and a new episode was just starting. Millie absentmindedly hummed the theme song while she finished her cookie and rested her head near Spinner's shoulder. His jacket had slipped down his shoulders a bit, and he could feel her hair tickling the exposed parts of his neck and collarbone.

"I'm not really good at...serious things," she mumbled. "Whenever I'm feeling sad or mad or..._blehhh_ happens, I just like to move on to something that makes me feel happy and not think about the bad stuff." A two-dimensional raincloud appeared over her head, and was promptly whisked away by a shining sun with a smiley face. "I'm just not wired to take things too seriously." She shifted a bit closer to Spinner. "I mean just now, I tried to have a real talk about bullies and jerks, and frigging steam came outta my ears." She let out a small laugh.

Instead of trying to speak, he slowly inched his hand towards her right arm. When he brushed her knuckles, Millie responded by gently intertwining her fingers with his. They watched the television in comfortable silence. After a few minutes, Spinner saw her head begin to nod a bit, and he noticed his eyes felt a bit heavy. By the end of the episode, they were both asleep.

Spinner's eyes slowly opened. The afternoon light coming through the nearby window was nonexistent now. The television had shut itself off due to inactivity, and so had the DVD player. _What time is it? _He looked down at Millie, whose head was resting on his upper chest instead of his shoulder now. She was still asleep, and next to her head was a thought bubble with the phrase _'ZZZ...' _floating inside of it.

He groggily reached into his jacket for his cell phone, trying not to move around too much and wake her up. His lockscreen lit up, and he cringed at the sudden flash of light. The clock read-

_9:55 pm!? _He stared incredulously at his phone. _We took a four hour nap! _His stomach sank as he realized something else. _Shit, I'm gonna be late for the League meeting! _He put his phone back in his jacket, and gently shook Millie's arm. "Hey, Millie," he croaked, his voice still a bit thick from sleep.

Millie's thought bubble dissolved, and her eyes fluttered open. "Shuichi?" She blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes. "We must've dozed off...what time is it?"

"It's almost 10," he replied. "I have to head out to meet my friends, but I didn't want you to wake up and just find me gone." He rolled out of bed and went to grab his shoes by the front door. Millie toddled after him, still a bit hazy from waking up.

"Oh, okay," she replied. "Oh! Here, I'll pack up some sweets for 'em while you put your shoes on." She grabbed two large tupperware containers off of the kitchen counter and opened it. "C'mere, cookies!" Instantly, half of the leftover cookies and pretzels on the dining table bounced off of their trays, across the floor, and into the container. The cake rapidly spun around, and a few slices landed directly into the other container. The last slice entered the container after a dramatic spin and backflip in midair, and when it landed a small scorecard popped up on the counter: **10/10!**

Millie shut both containers and set them aside while Spinner put his shoes on. "Hey, where in Kamino are we right now? I'm gonna try and walk there, but I'm not sure which direction to head from here." He rubbed his eyes and tried to wake himself up a bit.

Millie thought for a second and grabbed a nearby marker. "Here, I can get you there faster," she replied. She walked to the front door and uncapped the marker. "Where are you trying to go?"

Spinner looked at her, confused. _What do I say? I can't just give her the address to the League's hideout!_ "Uh..."

Millie thought for a second. "Hmmm," she contemplated. "Actually, nevermind. It'd be funnier if I didn't know the address." She scrawled on the front door in big, bold letters: **DOOR TO WHEREVER SPINNER IS MEETING HIS FRIENDS**. She capped the pen and opened the door. Instead of her outside balcony, the door had opened to the back entrance to an abandoned bar on the other side of Kamino. A triumphant _"ta-da!" _sound effect trumpeted from the doorframe. Spinner took a few steps forward and stuck his head out into the alley_. She automatically got me there without knowing where it was? Damn, even Kurogiri needs to know where he's making a Warp Gate..._

Millie handed him the two containers of leftovers. "Hope you guys have fun," she said sweetly. She yawned and gave him a hug. "I'll text you tomorrow, but right now I'm gonna head to bed." Spinner nodded, and tried to return the hug as well as he could with two boxes of desserts in his hands.

"Y-yeah, I'll talk to you tomorrow," he replied. He paused for a moment. "I had a great time with you tonight. You're really..." He turned red. "I really like you. A lot."

Millie stared at him for a moment, and then smiled brightly. A few hearts began floating around her head, and she blushed. "I really like you too," she replied gently. She took a few steps into the alley. She lifted her index finger and gently touched Spinner's nose. "Boop!" She giggled and then yawned again before walking back into her apartment. "Okay, I'm heading to bed. G'night..." She slowly closed her door; it began to spin and spin, until it had vanished with a small _pop! _, leaving Spinner alone in the alley.

Or so he thought. He turned around and began to walk towards the back door to the bar, when he noticed two crouched figures behind a stack of faded wooden crates. He set the containers of leftovers down near the door and prepared for a fight. "Who's over there?" he barked.

The two figures slowly rose up from behind the crates, revealing themselves to be none other than Magne and Twice. Twice waved wildly at Spinner. "Whoever's over here, it's not Twice and Magne and they definitely weren't watching you!" He cocked his head. "Hey, who was that girl we saw you with?"

Spinner blushed. _How long have they been there?_

Magne stepped forward, blushing and clearly embarrassed that she had been caught. "I'm so sorry," she said. "Twice and I were about to head inside, and we saw you, and her, and you were both so cute that I didn't want us to ruin the moment!" She and Twice walked to the back entrance where Spinner was standing. Twice spotted the boxes of sweets.

"Hey, you brought the sweets!" he cheered, grabbing a container and eyeing them thoroughly. "Woah, do these cookies have your face on 'em?" He pointed at an iced cookie decorated to look like Raphael.

Spinner indignantly grabbed the box from Twice. "Hey, no eating until everyone has a chance to pick something out!" He opened the door to the bar, and Magne and Twice followed behind him. "And no, it's supposed to look like...Ah, nevermind. We're already late as it is." He shut the door behind them. _Today was fun, but now it's time to get serious._


	7. Chapter 7

Spinner, Magne, and Twice entered the bar and sat down on one of the plush leather couches. Dabi was leaning against a wall near the front entrance and noticed the boxes of sweets Spinner had placed on the center coffee table. "Hey, you finally made it," he greeted breezily. He peered at the snacks inside and frowned. "Aww, no ginger snaps? Well, beggars can't be choosers." He nonchalantly sank into the couch across from them, where Toga had been humming and playing with a butterfly knife.

She looked up from her knife and saw what Spinner had brought. "Oooh, they look so cute!" she cooed. She opened up one of the containers and grabbed a chocolate-covered pretzel shaped like Leonardo's swords. "Look, it's a little katana! Twice, wanna sword fight?" She dangled another pretzel between her fingers.

"I dunno," Twice said nervously. "The last time we had a play fight I had to give my arms a few stitches." He grabbed a pretzel sai from her. "You're on!"

As they engaged in chocolate-covered battle, Magne and Dabi each grabbed a slice of cake and some plastic silverware from behind the bar. Mr. Compress and Giran entered from the back door, and they gave the group a small wave. Giran had a briefcase with him, and he set it down near the bar before sitting in a wooden desk chair nearby. Compress saw the open box and grabbed an iced cookie. "Ah, some refreshments! I am a bit famished..." Giran grabbed another cookie and smirked. He eyed the icing, and held it next to Spinner's face to compare.

"You know, I think there's a bit of a resemblance," he jokingly remarked before taking a bite. "You look a bit less doughy though, Spinner."

A Warp Gate opened near the bar counter, and Tomura and Kurogiri stepped through it into the room. Tomura had a handheld game console in one hand, and he quickly shut it off before putting it in his pocket. "Everyone's here then?" He looked around the room, making sure everyone was accounted for. His eyes landed on the table of treats, and his stomach rumbled a bit. "Oh right, I forgot about your text." Kurogiri went behind the bar to grab napkins for everyone, and Tomura gingerly picked up a few cookies with four of his fingers. He stared at them for a moment. "Are these...you?" he asked, glancing at Spinner.

Spinner blushed. _First Twice, then Giran, and now Shigaraki? They don't look that similar to me..._He looked at a cookie resembling Raphael, and he frowned. _Okay, yes they do. _"They're supposed to be the Ninja Turtles," he replied sheepishly. "Well, except the gray ones. They're Master Splinter."

Shigaraki looked at the decorated cookies and nodded slowly in recognition. "Oh yeah, I see it now. Huh, I didn't know you liked that show." He sat on a barstool and ate one of the cookies after setting the rest on the counter.

Kurogiri passed napkins around. "Please avoid leaving crumbs if you can help it," he said politely. "There was a small family of mice living here when we first moved in and while I'm sure they'd appreciate them, I would prefer they not have a reason to stay here any longer." Toga and Twice instinctively moved their feet off the floor and onto the couch at the mention of the word "mice".

Kurogiri made his way behind the bar, and made a drink for himself. Tomura set his cookie down. "Alright," he announced. "Let's start." Toga and Twice stopped their swordfight and sat at attention while nibbling on their pretzels.

"Kurogiri and I finally found where UA is holding their summer training camp: a hidden area in Nagano called 'The Beast's Forest'. And now that we have an exact location, we can make some more concrete plans to kidnap Bakugo." He took a few pieces of folded paper out of his trenchcoat pockets. "Thanks to our leak, we have a copy of the faculty's summer calendar. The camp will take place during the second week of June, and from how it's described the students are required to be there." He rested a finger on the folded paper. "Our main goal right now is to plan a surprise attack that'll separate Bakugo from the other fodder, and get him out without any delays." He unfolded one of the pieces of paper and attached it to a nearby wall with a tack. "We've got a basic map of the forest here. I'll make some copies for the rest of you by next week. But for right now, the plan is this..."

He pointed at a large building on the northern part of the map. "Dabi. You and Twice will be warped here. We're attacking at night, and this is the only major building in the area. Your goal is to ensure that nobody can get there and regroup. Feel free to light the place up, and if you can, block off any paths to the building you can find."

Dabi saluted with his fork, which still had a piece of cake. "You got it, Boss." Twice followed suit by saluting with his pretzel.

"Spinner and Magne will warp in further south along the path," Shigaraki continued, dragging his finger to their location. "This clearing here is where one of the groups will be training, so you're likely going to encounter Pros right after you enter. If you're rushed by a boss, you can try to push them north towards Dabi's flames and trap them there, or lead them southeast to Moonfish."

Magne cringed. "Ugh, Moonfish," she groaned. "I don't like to judge based on appearances, but when we first met him he seemed a bit...unstable. He won't cause any problems, will he? I mean...He can understand whatever orders you tell him, right?"

"He just repeats the orders I give him over and over, so he'll be able to remember," he confirmed. "I was gonna have him come tonight so I could test his memory of what we need him to do, but he tends to...stand out." He looked over at Giran. "We can just go to his place tomorrow and check in a few days before we carry out the plan."

Giran nodded and grabbed another cookie. "He likes to go out at night anyway," he replied nonchalantly. "So he likely wouldn't have showed tonight." He took a bite. "It'd get in the way of his, uh, prize-hunting."

Tomura turned back to the map. "Toga, you'll be on the other path near where Spinner and Magne will be." He pointed at a path that went directly east. "If you encounter any students wandering by, try to get a decent amount of blood from them."

Toga cheered. "Nice! I can't wait to meet some new cuties." She fingered her butterfly knife and sighed dreamily.

"You're going to get a few on the path from when you first warp in, but you're gonna get a few more from farther east." He moved his finger east to a dense part of the forest. "Mustard already knows his part in the plan; he'll cover this forest area with gas, and knock out any students caught in it. The stragglers are likely to head past you and try to get to the Heroes near Magne and Spinner, so just take them out as they come."

"And don't worry about getting knocked out yourself," Giran added. "I'm workin' on a mask for you to wear so you're not affected by Mustard's gas."

Toga clapped her hands together. "Aaaah, I can't wait!" She pointed her knife at Giran. "You're gonna make it cute, right?"

Giran laughed. "You kidding? You're gonna have the cutest gas mask on the market," he replied playfully.

Toga set her knife down and made a heart with her hands. "You're the best, Giran!"

Tomura continued. "The last of the Vanguard Action Squad will be in this part of the forest here." He pointed at another densely forested area surrounding a large cliff. "Muscular will be here, and he'll be taking care of anyone who's on the mountain trail. He'll be looking out for the area with the most Pros, and he'll head wherever they are and help take them out." He ate another cookie. "He couldn't make it tonight, but he already knows his part of the plan."

Dabi smirked. "He might need some reminders like Moonfish," he replied. "I'd suggest he write his orders down on his hand, but I dunno if he can read..."

Tomura rolled his eyes. "He's got a one-track mind, but he's not stupid," he countered. "As long as I'm there leading the dungeon, he doesn't have to strategize; he just needs to tank." Dabi shrugged and took another bite of cake, and Tomura leaned back a bit in his stool. "And finally, Compress."

Mr. Compress crossed his legs and played with one of his marbles. "I assume I'm going to find Bakugo and make him...disappear?" He flicked the marble on his fingers, and it vanished into his right sleeve. He flicked his left wrist, and the marble magically reappeared in his hand.

Tomura smiled wryly. "Exactly. You'll warp in with Spinner and Magne, but you're not going to join their fight. Stay hidden in the forest north of them until we find Bakugo, and then we'll lead him to you. You compress him, and the rest of you will make your way to where Kurogiri will warp us back." He pointed at a clearing near Spinner and Magne's location, and ate the last cookie he had placed on the counter. "And that's the plan."

Spinner stared at his assigned spot on the map. "Does the faculty calendar say exactly which Heroes are going to be at the camp?" He shifted in his seat and grabbed a pretzel. "Not to underestimate the students they've got, but the Pros are definitely going to be a bigger challenge; we've gotta distract them long enough that they don't realize who we're really after until we have Bakugo."

Tomura rested his hand on the folded calendar on the counter. "Eraserhead will definitely be there," he replied. "He's the chaperone for class 1A, and Vlad King will also be there with his class." He cocked his head. "As for the others running the camp, we aren't exactly sure yet. But it's likely going to be a small team of Pros, three or four at the most. And they're probably not going to be teachers; they're trying to keep a low profile and avoid attracting our attention, after all."

Twice lifted his mask a bit in order to eat his pretzel. "So if the camp takes place during the second week of June, what'll we do 'til then?" He counted on his fingers. "We've got three months to be vigilant, prepare, and just chill!"

"The next two months will be centered around getting equipment together through Giran's connections," Kurogiri explained. "Miss Himiko needs her mask, but she'll also be equipped with a device that can drain and collect blood more efficiently." He finished his drink and faced Toga, who was grinning wide with excitement. "And once it's complete, you should practice handling it until you're comfortable using it in battle."

"Muscular's also gonna need some spare prosthetics," Giran added. "And Moonfish is gonna need something to wear that'll be durable in a fight but also keep him covered. Right now he gets by with some spandex onesies and gloves, but that'll get torn up in seconds in a fight." He gave a fake shudder. "And that guy does not like having his skin exposed."

Tomura nodded. "The rest of you should spend the next few weeks getting ready, and memorizing your locations." He rested his elbows on the counter. "Going over the plan was our only real agenda tonight, so if you need to head home you can go. And if anyone's is spending the night, there are some extra blankets by the corner over there." Tomura took out his handheld game and powered it back on, leaving the League to their own devices.

Twice leaned back on the couch. "Hey, Toga! Are you gonna spend the night too?" he asked eagerly. "I love being alone, so I was hoping someone else was staying here tonight."

"Yep!" she chirped. "We can have a sleepover, if you want. I have some new nail polish if you want another manicure, and I can try to teach you some knife tricks again." She held up her butterfly knife.

Twice fist-pumped the air. "Nice. Can we do nails before knife stuff, though? I got some wet polish on some of my cuts last time and it felt really good. My fingers felt like they were on fire, due to a pain unimaginable by man!"

They went to a corner of the room, where Toga's purse was. As they talked, Magne sat next to Spinner. "Soooooo, Loverboy," she teased. "What's her name?"

Spinner choked on the pretzel he had in his mouth. He managed to swallow it, and he looked at Magne. "Millie," he sputtered. "Her name is Millie. And never call me that again!"

"Awww, Millie! What a cute name, it fits her perfectly." Magne inched closer. "I'm glad I can call her something besides Pink Hair-chan, now. So, were you two on a date? Is that why she dropped you off here tonight?" She pouted. "She doesn't have to be so shy, I'm sure everyone else here would love her." Her eyes lit up. "Ooh, maybe Tomura could have you two partner up on the next mission! But then again, you probably don't wanna get distracted in a fight..."

Spinner froze. _Partner up? Does she think that Millie knows about me and the League? Wait...does she think that Millie wants to join!?_

Dabi cocked his head at Spinner. "You got a girlfriend now, Spinner?" He grinned. "Not bad, buddy. If she's joining though, you better not engage in any PDA during meetings. I may be a walking, oozing burn ward, but that shit's gross."

Spinner frantically tried to find a way to explain the whole 'I'm dating a Pro Hero in training, and she has no idea I'm in the League' situation. "Uh, I'm not so sure," he replied shakily. "I mean, she has some doubts about Heroes, but she's not quite..." He waved his hand around. "She's not quite here yet." He thought to himself_. I mean, she did say that she doesn't think all Heroes are in it for the right reasons. She'd just need to see just how many Pros are corrupt to realize that it'd be better to just leave them behind altogether. _He grabbed another pretzel. She wants to help kids that are overlooked by Heroes, and maybe the League can help her do that. He looked over at Toga, who was showing off her nail polish to a very-invested Twice, and at Tomura, who was absorbed in his video game. Tomura's hand (the one he called "Father") was pushed slightly above its usual spot so he could see his screen. Spinner stared at "Father" for a while. _There are definitely some people here that could've used a proper Hero like her when they were younger...Maybe once she meets them, she can see some real-life people who can show her that the path she's on isn't helping anyone._

Magne shrugged. "It's still sweet of her to drop you off," she said with a smile. "A girl who can bake like that is definitely a keeper." She furrowed her brow for a moment. "Hey, what is her Quirk, exactly? Twice and I saw you two come out of a portal she'd made. Is it like Kurogiri's?"

Kurogiri turned his head at the mention of his name. "Your companion has a Quirk like mine?" he asked. "If she ever does come to a meeting, I'd be glad to have someone else share the duty of transporting everyone."

"Nah, it isn't a portal Quirk," Spinner replied. "Well, it is, but it isn't. It's kind of a weird Quirk, to be honest..."

Giran chuckled and grabbed a slice of cake. "A weird Quirk, you say? She'll fit right in!" He took a bite of cake.

"She said it was called 'Toon Force,' " Spinner said. "Basically she can just do things a cartoon can. Like, she walked into a door and had little birds tweeting around her head and everything." She'd definitely be an asset to the League, he thought. Maybe if the others want her to join, they could give me some pointers on how to get her on our side. "She got me here just by writing 'DOOR TO WHERE SPINNER'S FRIENDS ARE', and bam! She opened it and we were out back." He took a bite of another cookie. "She didn't even know the address or anything, and she still got me here."

Dabi laughed. "We could definitely use another Looney Toon," he replied. He cocked his head towards Toga. "They'd get along pretty well, huh?"

Kurogiri cleared off some of the crumbs left on the coffee table. "Perhaps she could come to a meeting after we've recruited Bakugo," he suggested. "We likely won't have a role for her in the Vanguard group, but once we've retrieved him we could use another recruit for future missions."

Tomura looked up from his game. "We're getting a new player?" he asked. He hadn't been paying attention to anything but his game until Kurogiri had said 'another recruit.' "What can they do?"

"From what Spinner was saying, he has a young companion who might be persuaded to join," Kurogiri explained. "It seems her Quirk revolves around...cartoon physics? A bit unconventional, but I'm sure it could be useful."

Spinner's jaw tensed. _I can't just let them think she's already a recruit. This could get rough..._"She's not exactly wanting to join up yet," he said tentatively. "She doesn't actually know about...me. Being in the League, I mean."

Tomura raised an eyebrow. "She doesn't?" he asked. "Then what makes you think she wants to join us?"

"She's starting to doubt the system Heroes have set up," Spinner explained. "And I know that if I just get through to her and explain that she's better off in the League, she'd want to help us. She'd be useful, too." Spinner hesitated for a moment. _Should I really tell them-_ "She's a UA student."

Tomura's eyes widened. Magne and Kurogiri stared at Spinner, surprised at his statement. Toga and Twice had stopped chatting, and looked over at him as well.

"You're telling me that you've got a UA student who would actually be willing to join us?" Tomura asked. His eyes were intensely fixed on Spinner. "Who is she? What year is she in?"

Spinner took a deep breath. "Her name's Millie, and since she's eighteen she must be a third-year. I don't know if she has an internship or not, but I wouldn't be surprised if she does. She said she transferred to UA last year, so I don't know how much inside information she has right now."

Giran was silent for a moment, and then he reached for his briefcase. "A year's long enough for her to have a student file," he replied. He opened his case and pulled out a bulky, grey laptop. "I'll see what I can find."

While he searched for information about her, Tomura was bouncing his foot excitedly. "One UA student on our side would have been a huge advantage," he muttered, almost to himself. "But two would be even better. And if she's at a Hero agency, she could even get us info on some Pros outside of UA..."

Spinner tensed. I'm glad they're taking this well, but this is starting to escalate way too fast, he thought. She hasn't joined us yet. Hell, she doesn't even know I'm in the League yet!

"Found her!" Giran announced. He rotated his laptop so Tomura and the others could see. "Full name is Millie Jones, and her Hero name is Blanc Slate-a.k.a. 'the Cartoon Hero'." Spinner stared at Giran's laptop; there was an official file from a Hero agency's records onscreen, with full details about Millie. There was a photo of her in the top right corner in her Hero costume, and she was smiling widely for the camera. Spinner recognized the costume immediately-it was the outfit she had been wearing the first time they had met at the Family Mart.

Giran turned the laptop back around and scrolled down. Tomura walked over behind him to read over his shoulder. "Let's see," Giran continued. "Born in the United States. Transferred to UA last year from a school for Heroes-in-training in Salem, Oregon. Passed the entrance exam with flying colors, got her Hero license eight months ago." He scrolled down. "She works at...Smile Agency, formed by Ms. Joke a few years back."

"Smile Agency?" Dabi asked. "Never heard of that one."

Giran leaned back. "It's not a typical Hero agency," he replied casually. "Before Ms. Joke started teaching at Shiketsu, she started an agency focused on kids. They mainly do rescue work, and they partner up with the country's child welfare office a lot. Getting kids away from abusive parents, finding homes for kids whose parents were killed by criminals and Villains, stuff like that."

Tomura stared intently at the screen, and was silent for a while. "How long has she been working there?" he finally asked. Spinner noticed that his voice was a lot softer than it had been before.

Giran scrolled down. "Looks like she started working there about a week after she got her license," he said. "It says she applied for them. Weird...most students wouldn't want to go right towards an agency like that. Most of 'em with flashy Quirks like hers are picked up by bigger agencies."

"She told me she wanted to work with kids," Spinner replied. "She said that most Pros have no idea how to really help them, so it makes sense that she'd go to an agency that exclusively focuses on rescuing them."

Tomura kept staring at the screen. After a few seconds of silence, he blinked and walked back to his seat. "I want her," he concluded. "She and Bakugo would be a great set." He tapped his finger against his thigh. "Bakugo's got a lot of potential, and well-known after the Sports Festival incident. Once he joins, it'll definitely strike a blow to how Heroes are viewed. And if she joined after him, it'd be even worse...Some people will just explain Bakugo joining us with his personality, and his violent tendencies. But her?" He smiled to himself. "She's an example of a 'perfect Hero'...Hell, she became one solely to help little kids. If she joined us, people couldn't just handwave it away. They'd have to ask themselves why someone as 'noble' as her would want to abandon the society of Heroes and join _us_."

He looked at Spinner. "You said she'd need some convincing, right? And we'd probably need a different approach for her than what we're doing to recruit Bakugo."

"Yeah," Spinner immediately replied. "We don't need to kidnap her or anything drastic like that." He hesitated, and bit the inside of his cheek. _I'm not gonna haul her here against her will,_ he thought. _But convincing her to join is going to be really difficult._ "Look, just give me some time to explain things to her. It may take a while, maybe even a few months, but I bet I can convince her to meet with us, just once. And once she does, she'll see just how necessary the League is if she really wants to help people."

Tomura rested an elbow on the bar. "Alright, I'll leave her to you. While everyone else is getting ready for the invasion of the camp, You should spend the next few months trying to recruit her. I want her and Bakugo to join at around the same time, so try to have her come to a meeting after we get him. It'd probably be easier for her to join when she sees that she isn't the only student at UA with us, so she doesn't feel like she's betraying her friends all by herself."

Spinner nodded. Okay, he thought. I have three months to get Millie to join us. That's enough time. _I can do this. I can do this._

_I can do this. _


	8. Chapter 8

The next two months became the happiest times of Spinner's life. Millie and Spinner had been seeing each other one or two times a week, and Millie had suggested they go out to eat to celebrate their "Two Month-iversary" (as she put it). Spinner had agreed, but he was still a bit nervous. Up until now, they had been hanging out at Millie's apartment and spending time together in private; this would be the first time they would go out together in public.

Spinner eyed his reflection in the window of the train. He was wearing a soft, light blue button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the bottom untucked, and the only pair of jeans he owned that didn't have a single hole or tear in them. He had on a comfy pair of sandals, the kind with that soft cushioned lining that's super expensive but super worth it. His hair was in a messy ponytail, with a few stray pieces framing his face. A few months ago, he would've been terrified that he didn't dress well enough. But by now, he had mellowed out a bit and wasn't obsessing over every aesthetic detail of how he looked before going out on a date.

Now he was obsessing over how to confess to Millie that he was in the League of Villains, show her that the society she had dedicated her studies and career to needs to be demolished and rebuilt, and that she should totally join the League with him and kinda-sorta gather intel on her friends, teachers, and coworkers. Spinner stared out the window. _I've been trying to drop hints about fake Heroes and things like that, but I dunno if she's really picking up on what I'm trying to show her. _Whenever they were together, he would find a 'random article' he found while browsing his phone about a Pro Hero's recent scandal, the phony business deals and endorsements that a famous Pro had taken on, etc. He'd always make pointed comments about them: "I can't believe how many Heroes are able to do that with a good conscience," "Why do so many Pros act like they're celebrities first and Heroes second?" and "When did being a Hero stop being about saving people and more about making yourself successful?" Millie would agree that the Pros he mentioned were in it for dubious reasons, but she'd change the subject after a minute or so and never bring it up again.

Spinner felt his phone buzz in his pocket, and he set down the two packages in his lap in the seat next to him. He saw a new text message from Millie:

**Hey boo! (=^.^=)/**

**i'm waiting at the station rn. **

**I have a present for you, but I'm gonna give it to you after dinner**

**It's a surprise ;3**

Spinner smiled down at his screen and texted her back.

**A surprise present? That's the best kind of present!**

**Train'll be there in a minute or two. See you then**

The train slowed down and came to a stop a few minutes later. "Now arriving at: Kamino Ward," the announcer placidly announced over the train's speaker. Spinner put his phone back in his pocket and tucked the two gift-wrapped boxes he had brought under his arm. A few weeks ago, Millie mentioned that she had wanted a book based off one of the shows she had taken a liking to. The book was titled _Star vs. the Forces of Evil: the Magic Book of Spells_; after she talked about it, Spinner did some online research on the book to see if there were any nearby shops that had a copy. As it turns out, there was a small bookstore near his apartment that had it; later that day he purchased a copy for her, plus some rainbow-colored wrapping paper that he knew she'd like. While he was researching the book, he noticed that all of the pictures he'd seen of the main character (and Millie's favorite) had a headband with little red devil horns. He thought it would be a good idea to find a pair for Millie to go with the book; it took him a train ride to Harajuku and a few hours of browsing in a bunch of "kawaii" fashion outlets, but he managed to find a headband that was a perfect match. The ladies at the register had given him an odd look when he paid for it, but when he mentioned it was for his girlfriend they changed their tune. "Oooh, your girlfriend?" they teased. "That's so sweeeeet~!" Spinner felt his cheeks burn at the memory; it was the first time he'd referred to Millie as his girlfriend.

He stepped out onto the platform and after a few seconds of looking around, he saw Millie waiting a few yards away. She was wearing a yellow shirt with a red star in the middle, and some high-waisted light denim shorts. Her sandals were the same shade of red as the star on her shirt, and she was wearing a purse that looked like a container of french fries. She was bouncing on her heels excitedly, and her purse bobbed up and down against her hip.

Spinner waved over at her, and she waved back before running over to him. "There you are," she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around him in a hug before giving him a peck on the cheek. "I missed you!"

Spinner returned the hug and blushed. "You missed me?" he replied playfully. "We hung out a few days ago!"

Millie shrugged. "I know," she replied bashfully, "But still-I missed you!" She rocked on her heels. "Ready to go?"

"Not before you open your first present," Spinner announced, showing her the boxes tucked under his arm. Millie's eyes widened, and she looked down at the gifts.

"Awww, Shu," she cooed. "You didn't have to get me anything!" She gave him another peck and took one of the packages, eyeing the outside decoration. "Wow, I love the rainbow paper." She delicately unwrapped it and opened the box before letting out a small gasp. "OHMYGOSH, Star's devil headband!" She held them out and squealed. "I love it!" She quickly placed it on her head, and beamed at Spinner. "How do they look?"

Spinner smiled back at her. "They look great," he replied. _Of course they do, _he thought to himself. _**She's **__wearing them, so obviously they're gonna look great. _

Millie's cheek marks changed from circles to little hearts, and she jumped into the air with a cheer. A few small fireworks appeared around her, and when she landed on the ground she spun Spinner around in another embrace. She stopped after a few seconds, and clasped her hands. "Okay, since I opened one of my super awesome presents," she announced, "I'm gonna wait 'til after dinner to open the other one." She winked and gently booped his nose. "That way we can both open a gift later."

Spinner snickered and held out the other gift. "If we're heading out now, would you mind putting this in your purse? I don't want to accidentally lose it or leave it somewhere." Millie nodded and placed it in her purse. Spinner noticed that just like the purse she had been carrying when they first met, this one seemed like it could fit anything in it regardless of size. He figured that she was using her Quirk to give it some cartoony qualities like impossible space, and he became more certain of that when after placing the present inside of it, the purse let out a small belch.

The two of them walked from the station and down the street. "So," Spinner asked. "Where are we eating?"

Millie took her cell phone out of her purse. "Okay, so there's this really good restaurant called Yaki's House," she explained as she typed. "I've been there a few times and they have _really _good barbeque. And I thought that since summer's right around the corner, it'd be fun to go there!" She showed him the restaurant's official restaurant. "They're all-you-can-eat, and they have a soda bar with a bunch of different drinks. See?"

Spinner's mouth watered at the dishes pictured on their online menu. _I want __**everything**__. _"Sounds good to me," he replied. "Lead the way!"

Millie grinned, and they kept walking. After they had passed a few blocks, she gently took Spinner's right hand. Spinner almost jumped at the sudden contact, and he stopped walking for a moment. Millie cocked her head, confused and still holding his hand. "You okay?"

Spinner collected himself and nodded. "Yeah," he replied. "It's just…" He looked around. "This is the first time we've ever been like this. In public, I mean." _When was the last time someone held my hand in public? _He thought for a moment. _I'm pretty sure Mom used to when she'd take me to preschool...Shit, has it been that long? _

"Is that...okay? Holding hands out here, I mean," Millie asked, a bit concerned. She let go of his hand and anxiously started to twirl her hair. "Sorry, I know I'm naturally kinda clingy. If you don't like it, we can just walk without holding hands."

Spinner immediately took her hand back. "No, no, that's not it!" he replied frantically. "It's not that I don't like it." He squeezed her hand. "I do. A lot, actually."

After a few seconds, she squeezed his hand back and gave him a small, sweet smile. They walked down to the street together in silence, enjoying each other's company and touch. Once they made it to the end of the street, Millie pointed at the front entrance to a nearby restaurant. "There it is!" The front door had a small sign hanging in front of it: '**Yaki's House-Tabehodai BBQ!**' The couple walked to the entrance, and Spinner held the door for Millie as she entered.

The atmosphere inside the restaurant was pretty comfy. There weren't too many people inside, and customers were eating and chatting while light jazz music played over a few speakers on the ceiling. Each table had a circular grill in the middle, with various dishes and skewers of meat cooking on them. There was a bar in the right corner of the restaurant, and next to that was a large colorful soda fountain. A few servers were gossiping by the entrance to the bar, and a few men in business suits were near them, drinking and joking after a long day of work.

A young female waitress walked towards Millie and Spinner. "Hello and welcome back to Yaki's House, Miss Blanc Slate!" she greeted, giving Millie a small bow. "It's great to see you again."

Spinner raised an eyebrow at the mention of Millie's Hero name. Millie waved at the waitress.

"Hey, Hana!" she said with a smile. "Can I get a booth for two?" Hana glanced at Spinner, and her expression changed for a fraction of a second. She quickly collected herself and nodded with a small smile directed at Millie.

"Of course! You're always welcome here after what you did for Mrs. Yamamoto," she replied. She ushered them to a booth near the back of the restaurant. Spinner couldn't help but notice that there were plenty of other empty tables closer to the front, but he didn't say anything about it.

After he and Millie sat down, Hana handed each of them a linen napkin. "How long would you like to pay for?" she asked. "30 minutes is 500 yen per person. 60 minutes is 1000 yen, 90 minutes is 1500, and 120 minutes is 2000."

Millie thought for a moment. "Thirty minutes please," she said, handing Hana a few bills.

Spinner hesitated for a moment. "Hang on, you don't have to pay for me," he protested. He produced a 500-yen bill for himself, which Hana gingerly took from him. Her fingers accidentally touched his, and she flinched; her cheeks turned pink, and she quickly turned away from him to return Millie's 1000-yen bill. Spinner's jaw clenched, and he looked down at his napkin. _Never touched someone with scales before, huh? _

Millie took the bill and gave Hana 1000 yen for herself. Hana nodded demurely and hurriedly walked away, leaving the two of them alone. Millie sighed and rested her elbows on the table. "Ugh, I am so ready for classes to be over," she moaned. "There's still one month left, but since we took our final exams last week there is _nothing _to do. It's so boring!"

Spinner tried to clear the interaction with Hana from his mind and laughed. "Well, it's just one more month," he reassured. "And then you're free to have as much fun as you want." A waiter came by with an a la carte tray of diced meat, vegetables, and small bowls with various sauces; Millie and Spinner grabbed the items they wanted, and placed them on the table's grill. They sizzled and hissed, and Millie watched their food cook with fascination.

"It's still so cool to me that you can grill your own food at a restaurant," she said. "Back home we have barbeque places, but everyone cooks your food for you. I like it this way, though; it's like you get a little show while you eat!"

Spinner smiled as he watched her stare at the grill. "Hey, speaking of home," he asked, "Didn't you mention you were thinking of visiting your mom and dad this summer?"

Millie nodded and prepared a skewer of meat and green peppers for herself. "Yep!" She took a bite of her food and ate a few pieces off of her skewer. "I was gonna fly home to see them for a few weeks in June, but all the flights to Southwest Airport are crazy expensive. Which makes sense, since summer is when prices are high because everyone's traveling on vacation and stuff." She took another bite. "So now, I'm flying back in August."

Spinner put a few pieces of flat grilled beef and vegetables on his plate, and he added some savory sauce on the side. "You're flying there? Why not use your Quirk to get there?" He dipped a piece of meat in the sauce and took a bite. "You could just make a portal or do a 'scene transition' or something, and not have to pay for a plane ticket."

Millie nodded. "See, that's what _I _wanted to do," she explained. "But my dad's worried that I'll wear myself out and hurt myself if I use my Toon Force to go across the world like that." She finished the rest of her skewer, and started to prepare some of the flat beef that Spinner had cooked for herself. "I mean he's not wrong to worry; whenever I use my Quirk for too long, or I do something really big like that, I get really woozy and I can pass out if I go too far. I mean, I _am _breaking the laws of physics and manipulating reality whenever I use my Quirk, and my body will sometimes just go 'Aaaah, I can't take this anymore!' " She smiled. "I always pass out in a silly way though, like an anvil or a piano will fall on my head, or a little cartoon pixie will show up and blow fairy dust into my eyes and make me really sleepy…"

Spinner cocked his head to the side. "Huh, I never thought of it that way," he replied. "Does your mom also want you to take a plane then?"

Millie laughed. "My mom said she doesn't mind how I get home; as long as we get to see each other she's fine!" She added a few pieces of cooked meat to her place, and a spicy red sauce. "She's the most chill person on the planet. Like, imagine if The Dude was a pretty hippie lady, and that's how mellow my mom is."

Spinner nodded sagely. _Who the hell is The Dude? _

Millie got up from her seat and held out her hand. "I'm gonna get a drink," she declared. "You want to come with me?" Spinner eagerly took her hand, and they went to the soda fountain. He got a glass of Sprite, while Millie opted for one of the many Ramune flavors they had on tap. When they got back to their booth, Millie held up her glass.

"Toast!"

Spinner stared at her for a moment, and then held up his own glass. Their cups came together with a small _clink! _and both of them drank their soda. Spinner set his drink down and leaned back in his seat. "So, what did we toast to?" he asked.

Millie grinned. "To us, silly," she replied. "It's our Two Month-iversary!" She ate a few bites of meat, and Spinner followed suit.

There was a silent break in their conversation while they ate, and Spinner decided to take the opportunity to change the subject to Heroes. "Since we've been together for a few months, I wanted to ask you something," he began tentatively.

Millie smirked mischievously and took a sip of her drink. "So, is this the part where you go on one knee?" she jokingly asked.

Spinner inhaled his drink, and a little bit sprayed out of his mouth. Millie hurriedly grabbed his napkin, and wiped some of the Sprite he had spilled on himself, giggling furiously the whole time. "Oh my gosh, I was _kidding_!" She tried to suppress her laughter as she sat back down. He took his napkin and wiped off a bit of Sprite that was dribbling on his chin. He regained his composure, and he started again.

"Uh, no, not that," he stammered, blushing furiously. "I was actually wondering what you thought about being a Hero. I mean, what you think of Villains."

Millie cocked her head. "Well, what do you wanna know?" she asked.

Spinner thought for a moment. "Like, from the ones you've encountered, what are they like? A lot of Pros just assume that Villains are all bad guys and toss them in jail without asking them why they're committing crimes in the first place." He shrugged. "I was just wondering what you thought about them. Do you ever wonder why, or do you think they're just a bunch of bad guys?

Millie took another sip of her drink. "Hmmm," she said thoughtfully. She set her glass down. "Well, Smile Agency doesn't really catch Villains like most agencies. We're more about helping civilians in other ways." She leaned back in her seat. "But some of the kids we help out? Their parents are Villains." She started to twirl one of her pigtails. "A lot of them are, actually. This is an extreme example, but like...Say some single dad can't find work and he has kids to care for, so he goes and robs a bank in order to get some money for them. And then he gets caught by a Hero, and goes to prison. Smile gets called to find a home for them, and my main job is making the kids feel safe while we find them a place to stay." She frowned. "And I'm usually the only grown-up around that goes out of their way to make them feel better and ask how they're doing, so they open up to me a lot. A lot of them know that their parents became Villains to help them, and they get really scared that I'm gonna think they're mom or dad is a bad person because they're a Villain."

She paused to take another sip of her drink. "Like, they'll go 'Please, miss, he only did it so we could have food money for this month!' And they'll beg me to believe them when they say that their mom and dad is a good person." She twirled her pigtail a bit faster, and Spinner started to notice steam coming from her ears. "I mean, I get _why _they're so scared that I'll think that-We're all raised to think that Villains are just bad people who do bad things because they're _bad._ And then their mom turns out to be a Villain, and they have to wonder if their mom is bad. But I never really liked the idea everyone has that just because someone's a Villain, they're automatically a bad guy. I mean, not all Heroes are _good guys _all the time, so why should all Villains be bad all the time?"

She huffed and took another drink. "And I always tell those kids the same thing: I believe you." She smiled; the steam died down. "They are always _so_ happy to hear me say that. And that makes _me _happy, but also kind of sad that in their mind, I'm the only Hero who's on their side and gets them."

She looked back at Spinner, who had been silently listening to her this entire time. "So to answer your question," she concluded, "I don't just wonder _why _Villains do their thing-most of the time, I _know _the reason because their kids tell me. And from what I've seen, Villains aren't 'bad guys'. They're just...people. People who are usually really desperate, and trying to do what's best to help the people they love."

_She gets it, _Spinner thought as he stared back at her. _I just need to push her a bit closer to the truth. _"I feel bad for all of those kids losing their parents," he confessed, wringing his napkin underneath the table. "It seems unfair that so many families have to be broken up, just because those moms and dads didn't have any other options." He took a sip of Sprite. "I bet a lot of them have money issues and that's why they become Villains, right?"

Millie nodded. "That's the main reason," she confirmed. "I mean, every case is different; some of them got into fights and wound up using their Quirk to hurt someone, so they get put in jail for unauthorized usage of their Quirk and some form of assault charge. But not every case I work in involves a Villain parent and their kid." She twirled her pigtail again. "Sometimes it's Heroes who get injured while fighting, and while they're in the hospital they can't find someone to take care of their kids." She bit her lip. "I don't wanna sound mean," she confessed, "But I get really upset at those parents sometimes. Like, being a Hero means you're always busy, so it's hard on their kids because they're never around."

She leaned forward a bit and spoke quietly, so nobody else could overhear her. "There was one time we got called to pick up a little kid who had just been left alone for like, three days before someone found her. Her mom was a Hero and she got injured while fighting a Villain. And she had asked her agent to make sure her daughter was cared for, but guess what? Her agent was so concerned with talking to the press, and making sure she wouldn't lose any sponsorship or business stuff while she was out of commission that he _forgot _to make sure the daughter was okay!"

Spinner shook his head in disbelief. "What the hell," he muttered. "God, why do Heroes even need agents? Their job is to save people; it shouldn't be a business!" He rolled his eyes. "I mean it's not like firefighters get agents and sponsorship deals. It all feels so...wrong."

Millie sighed. "Yeah," she agreed. "I wish it wasn't like that." She finished her drink. "I really wish it'd change." Her voice was wistful, and it was the most serious she'd ever sounded in front of Spinner.

Spinner felt his heart stir from her words, and he gently grabbed her hand. "It can change," he said firmly. "You can change it. _We _can change it."

Millie was taken aback for a moment. Her cheek marks turned into hearts again, and she smiled as she gently caressed his fingers with her thumb. As they silently looked at each other, Spinner fought the urge to tell her everything about the League of Villains right there in the middle of the restaurant. _We can change it. The League can help change this world for the better. You can join us, and we'll make this world a better place. We'll be happy together, even more than we are now. _He desperately wanted to tell her, but he knew that confessing to her here and now would be too much.

Eventually, Miillie broke the tension by removing her hand and wiping her mouth with her napkin. She stared at it for a moment. She started to fold the napkin, and was focusing very intently as she did so. Spinner watched her, wondering what she was trying to make.

She held up her completed creation in her hands; she had folded the napkin into a bird. "Ta-da!" She showed the bird to Spinner. "Pretty good, huh?"

Spinner smirked. "Pretty good," he agreed. "What kind of bird is it?"

Millie eyed the bird for a moment, contemplating her answer. "Hmmm….It's a….a…" She poked the bird's cloth beak. "A finch!"

"Well, it's a very pretty finch," Spinner replied. The bird napkin turned its head to Spinner and tweeted in thanks, and Spinner nearly choked on his food in surprise.

Millie giggled at his reaction, and gently set the bird down on the table. It flapped its wings and flew around Spinner's head, and the two of them laughed at the spectacle. The "finch" landed on Spinner's shoulder, and gave him a few pecks on the cheek. Spinner blushed, and Millie giggled even more. Finally, the bird flew away from his shoulder and landed on the grill. After a few seconds, smoke started to appear from its underbelly. The bird jumped up with a frightened caw and jumped around the table, desperately trying to cool down its tailfeathers. It squawked a few more times, and Millie and Spinner laughed even harder. Millie grabbed an ice cube from her drink and placed it onto the finch's rear, and it sighed in relief before unfolding back into a regular napkin on the table.

Hana approached the table and politely smiled at Millie. "I'm afraid you've spent your thirty minutes," she said. "Would you like to purchase more time?"

"Nah, we'll go," Millie replied. She looked over at Spinner. "Unless you want more food?"

Spinner shook his head and slowly got out of his seat. "I'm stuffed as it is," he said. Millie smirked, and Hana led them to the front door.

"Have a good evening!"

Millie waved back at Hana as they left the restaurant, and then turned to face Spinner. "Hey, do you want to spend the night at my place?" she asked. "You can sleep in my bed with me, or if that's too much I can unfold the sofa bed."

Spinner blushed. "It's not too much," he replied with a shaky laugh. "I mean, we fell asleep together in the same bed on our first date after all…"

Millie smiled wryly, and then unzipped her purse. It lurched forward and spat out an entire door in front of them-Millie's front door, to be exact. She took Spinner's hand, and they walked inside to Millie's apartment. She closed the door again, and looked through the peephole to see if it was back in its proper place. Sure enough, the door led to the balcony steps of her apartment again.

Spinner took his shoes off and followed Millie into her bedroom. She kicked off her shoes, tossed her purse on a nearby bean bag, removed her headband, and started to take off her shirt. "W-what're you doing?" Spinner yelped in surprise.

Millie stopped, and looked at him quizzically. "Changing into my pj's?" she replied. It dawned on her why he would be so nervous, and she blushed. "Oh, sorry! I'll just do it the other way." Before Spinner could ask what "the other way" was, she grabbed a small toy wand off of her vanity and held it above her head. "Bedtime Transformation Sequence!" A large number of multicolored lights appeared from the ground and swirled around her until she was completely obscured by them. They spun around for a few seconds, and then conformed to her body to become clothing. They disappeared, and Millie was now wearing a light purple tank top with a bit of white lace trim, and a matching pair of pyjama shorts. Her hair wasn't up in pigtails anymore, and it was the first time Spinner had ever seen her with her hair down.

Spinner stared at her, dumbfounded. _How weird is it that that __**isn't **__the weirdest thing I've seen her do with her Quirk? _Millie smirked at his expression, and held up the toy wand. "Want me to do you, too?" she asked teasingly. Spinner blushed, shook his head, and walked out into the living room.

"No, that's fine," he replied. "I'll just change out here." Millie nodded and set the wand down on her vanity again before closing the door to give him some privacy. He started to take off his jeans, when he stopped and looked down at them. _I don't have any other pants to change into…_

He knocked on Millie's door. "Hey Millie, this is gonna sound weird, but do you have any pants I could borrow?"

Millie slowly opened the door. "I do, but I dunno if they'll fit you," she replied. She handed him a pair of light green sweatpants, and he held them up against his body. "Those'll be way too tight," Millie giggled, and Spinner knew she was right. She shrugged, and took them back before tossing them aside.

"I'll just sleep in my jeans," he replied. _It's not gonna be comfortable, but it's better than wearing pants that'll cut off my circulation._

"Whaaaat?" Millie shook her head. "How're you going to fall asleep wearing jeans?"

"Well, what other choice do I have?" Spinner replied anxiously.

Millie twirled her hair and thought about his choices. "Hmm..." she trailed off. "Are you wearing boxers?"

Spinner turned bright red, and he looked down at his jeans again. He looked back at Millie.

"...Yes."

Millie smiled innocently. "Well just wear your shirt and take off your jeans!" she said, once again failing to understand why Spinner was turning redder than the national flag of China. "I mean, they're basically shorts right?" She closed the door, and left Spinner alone to change.

He was still for a moment, and stared at the door. Finally, he decided to do what she said and stripped down to his plain black boxers. _It's not creepy if she's the one who told me to do it, right? Right? _He carefully folded his jeans and placed them on her sofa, and then let down his hair. He put the ponytail holder on top of his pants, and knocked on Millie's door again.

"Come in!" she replied. He slowly walked inside, trying to remain calm. _I'm in my girlfriend's bedroom, _he thought to himself. _I'm in my girlfriend's bedroom, and I'm not wearing pants. And she's okay with it. So I'm okay with it. Nothing to be ashamed of. _

Millie grabbed her purse and sat down on her pastel, queen-sized bed. "Sooo," she drawled. "Do you wanna open presents?" She held up her purse

Spinner shakily nodded. "Sure," he replied. "You open yours first-it's uh, supposed to go with your headband."

Millie cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. "Okay then," she chirped. She snapped her fingers, and Spinner's other present hopped out of the purse into her lap. She and saw the cover of the book; her eyes widened. "Oh...my...gosh…" She beamed at Spinner, and a rainbow appeared over her head. She carefully set the book down on her nightstand, and then rushed to hug Spinner. "Shu, that's so sweet!" She peppered his neck and cheeks with kisses. "I love it!"

Every spot she kissed left a warm, glowy feeling on Spinner's skin. He gladly accepted the assault of kisses, and when she had stopped he almost wished it had gone on a bit longer. She put her purse in her lap, and turned it over again. "Now it's time for your present!" she cheered. A large box wrapped in green-and-purple striped paper spilled out onto the bed, and she handed it to Spinner. "So yours has a few different things in it," she explained. "But they're all from the same collection, so I thought I could just put it all in one box." She held one finger up and winked. "And your one hint is this: I don't wanna brag, but it's a really _grand _gift!"

He started to unwrap it, wondering what she had gotten him. _A collection of something that's grand..._His fingers froze as he guessed what it could be. _No way. _

He opened the box and gazed at its contents.

_No __**way.**_

Inside was the Collector's Edition of Grand Theft Auto V: an artbook, a blueprint map of the game world, codes to unlock bonus content in-game, and an official _GTA V _snapback hat and duffel bag. He looked up at Millie with stunned silence, then the box, and then Millie again. He wrapped his arms around her tight, and grinned from ear to ear. "I love it," he said cheerfully. "I love it!"

He set his present down near her bean bag chair, and sat on her bed with her. Millie stared at him for a moment. "So, you know how you wanted to ask me something now that we've been together for a few months?" she asked.

Spinner looked over at her. She was tracing imaginary shapes into her bedspread, and the rainbow over her head had changed into a tiny pink heart that was faintly glowing. "Uh, yeah," he replied. "Sorry if it made you uncomfortable. I know talking about problems in society isn't really the best thing to bring up on a 'Two Month-iversary'..."

She laughed and shook her head. "No, it's fine," she replied. "It's just that there's something I wanted to tell _you_, now that we've been together for a while."

"Oh, okay." Spinner shifted so he was fully facing her. "What is it?"

The glowing heart above Millie's head grew a bit larger. She leaned forward and stroked Spinner's cheek with her fingers. His face felt warm, and he was thankful that the light of the heart above her was hiding his blush. She gently leaned forward and kissed him on the mouth.

"I love you."


	9. Chapter 9

The second Millie's lips touched his, Spinner's eyes went wide. He'd been on the receiving end of her affection before but she had always stuck to pecking his cheeks and on occasion, she'd venture to his nose and neck. But this? This was a full blown _kiss_. He felt a chill rise up from his spine, and he automatically leaned further into her embrace and closed his eyes. He felt her lips curl into a smile, and she draped her arms around the back of his neck and shoulders. Spinner clumsily wrapped his arms around her waist, tilting his head a bit so it wasn't positioned so awkwardly. He was handsome in his own way (at least, Millie certainly thought so), but sometimes having a nose that protrudes the way his does can get in the way of intimacy.

He tried to kiss her back as well as he could; admittedly, he hadn't had a lot of practice on anything but a pillow from his younger teenage years, but he was picking things up pretty quickly. He tried caressing her hips, and he felt the tip of her tongue lightly graze his bottom lip when she leaned back and gasped at his touch. She, in turn, ran some of her fingers through his hair, and he let out a small muffled moan.

As the minutes passed and they became more and more entangled with each other, the glowing heart above Millie started to grow brighter and slowly spin. Millie leaned back a bit too far onto her pillows, accidentally pulling Spinner down with her arms that were still wrapped around him. Their lips separated during the abrupt fall, and they stared at each other in awed silence. Spinner saw that not only were Millie's cheek marks in the shape of hearts again, but so were her pupils.

Spinner gently rubbed one of her cheek marks with the back of his finger, and he smiled blissfully.

"...I love you, too."

Millie's glowing heart spun even faster, and finally vanished with a small _pop! _It left behind a small shower of stardust, which landed on and around Spinner and Millie's heads. He laid down next to her, and they spent the night holding each other under the covers until they had both fallen asleep.

Spinner's eyes slowly opened. Little of daylight peeked through Millie's curtains, and Spinner could hear the muted sounds of the city and tweeting birds coming from her windows. At some point during the night, Millie had switched from big spoon to little spoon-her head was resting in the crook of his neck, and her soft breaths tickled against his scales. Spinner noticed that she had a dream cloud above her head again. In addition to the 'ZZZ….' from last time, there were a few simple pictures floating around inside: rainbows, ice cream cones, various animated characters, and a cartoon version of Spinner's head inside a pink heart. He smiled and draped an arm around her waist.

Her eyes opened, and she blinked a few times before giving her boyfriend a sleepy smile. "G'morning…" She yawned and inched closer to him. "You sleep okay?"

"Yeah," he replied, also with a yawn. "I haven't slept that well in a while. Your bed is really comfy." _It's also not a cheap futon I bought at a dollar store five years ago, so that might've helped. _

Millie laughed and rested her hand on Spinner's chest. "Yeah, it is." She craned her neck to give Spinner a kiss, which he gladly returned. "Want me to make breakfast?" she asked.

Spinner sighed. "Yeah…" As she started to get up, he pulled her back onto his chest and she let out a small squeal of surprise. "But I don't want to get up yet. It's too warm and soft in here…"

Millie giggled and kissed his cheek. "I knowwww," she whined. "Why can't the whole world just be a big bed? You'd never be cold, you'd always have a nice place to sleep, and you would have breakfast in bed _every day_!"

Spinner chuckled. "Laundry day would suck though," he replied playfully. "Everyone in the world would have to take the covers off, chuck it into the ocean, and wash it. And the soap suds would definitely piss off all the fish."

Millie groaned into her bed. "Uggghh, I don't wanna get uuuuup…" She thought for a moment, and then held up her hand. The purse on her bean bag sprouted a pair of wings, and flapped it's way over to her. She opened it up, and poured some of its contents onto the bed: various pieces of candy, a handful of wrapped breakfast pastries, and a few photos fell out. She closed the purse and tossed it back onto the bean bag chair, and sat up to pile everything in one place. "I've got some Pop-Tarts in here if you want 'em," she offered while holding one up. "There's a few strawberry and blueberry ones, and some brown-sugar cinnamon ones too."

Spinner unwrapped a blueberry pastry and took a few bites. "Thanks," he replied. He glanced at one of the photos that had fallen out of Millie's purse. It looked like a family photo with three people: one was of an adult Japanese man, with a scar on his left cheek and frizzy black hair that stuck up all over his head in a ponytail. He was wearing an old tank top, and Spinner noticed a few tattoos poking out near his shoulders. Next to him was a woman with wild, wavy brown hair and a relaxed, mellow smile. She was wearing a psychedelically-colored flowy shirt with long bell sleeves, and dark blue jeans. Her orange sunglasses hung down the bridge of her nose, and the lenses were shaped like hearts. She was holding a small, cotton candy-haired baby with small pink cheekmarks, and the camera had managed to catch her in the middle of a giggle fit.

"Are these guys your parents?" Spinner asked. Millie looked over at the photo, with a strawberry Pop-Tart hanging from her mouth. She nodded.

"Yep!" she replied. "That was the first photo with all three of us, right after I was born. I was a pretty cute baby, right?"

Spinner smirked. _She's cute now. _"Wow, your mom really does look chill," he remarked, eyeing her in the photograph. "She looks straight out of the 60s." He looked at the building they were standing in front of. It was the entrance to a hut made out of homemade clay bricks and tiles. The photo only showed a fraction of it, but it looked surprisingly new.

Millie noticed what Spinner was staring at and pointed at the hut. "That's the house my mom made," she explained. "She finished it a few months before she got pregnant with me."

Spinner raised an eyebrow. "She _built_ it?" He observed the photo. Millie nodded again and showed him another photo. This one showed the cottage in its entirety. The entire structure was made of solid clay, and the outer walls had a bunch of intricate designs carved into them. There was a chimney on the right side of the roof, and a manmade "vent" with fire and hot coals inside near the bottom of the cottage's foundation.

Millie grinned. "She has a Quirk where she can make art, and once she breathes life into it, it can do stuff!" she explained. "So she made a ton of bricks out of clay near the beach, and once she finished drawing up blueprints for what the house would look like, she breathed on them to make them come to life! And they all jumped into place to make the walls and the roof, and she had them stand still while she and dad applied the grout and adhesive and stuff to make everything bond together."

Spinner stared at the photo again. _Sounds kinda like Millie's Quirk, _he remarked to himself. _Making things come to life and move around..._ "Did your dad use his Quirk to build it too?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied, "but he only used it on appliances and stuff." She pointed at his face in the first photo. "He can electrify stuff when he touches it, so he would be in charge of giving us electricity to keep the fridge running, and watch tv and stuff like that." She laughed. "Mom always said that even though he'd accidentally shock us sometimes, not having to pay an electric bill was totally worth it."

Spinner ate the other half of his Pop-Tart, and Millie placed the photos and remaining pastries on her nightstand before picking up her phone. She checked to see if she had gotten any messages during the night. The only thing she had received was an email from Eraserhead, one of the teachers from UA who had supervised her during her entrance exam to UA. "Huh?" She opened the email:

Millie,

Classes 1A and 1B will be attending the summer training camp next month, and I wanted to know if you were available to chaperone. This is an odd request, and I apologize for asking you on such short notice. Security has become an issue while planning this year's camp trip, and the rest of the faculty wants to avoid having too many teachers at UA in one place; instead, we decided to contact UA upperclassmen with Hero Licenses to have them attend the camp as chaperones and provide extra security and training to the first years. Unfortunately, all of your other classmates have prior obligations at their various agencies. Because you're the only Hero in your class that is employed at a low-risk/non-first responder agency, you will be the only chaperone available. It would only be through the month of June, and as compensation for doing this, you will receive a substantial amount of extra credit that would be applied to your grades in the fall semester; essentially, you would have enough credit hours to let you get away with only signing up for two classes this semester and be able to leave before the afternoon without needing a permission slip from your agency.

Please contact me as soon as possible, so we can make arrangements.

A phone number was listed at the bottom of the page, and Millie quickly saved the email. Spinner tilted his head. "You alright?" he asked. "Who texted you?"

Millie began to bounce on the bed. "One of my teachers," she explained excitedly. "I have to do some stuff for school over the summer, but they said I would only have to take _two _classes in the fall! And I can come home early!" She cheered, and fireworks filled with confetti began flying and popping around the room. "I could catch up on more shows, I could take naps-Oh!" She hugged Spinner. "I could spend more time with you!"

Spinner returned the hug and nuzzled her neck. "Well if that's the case, I'm all for it!" _I don't think I've seen someone so excited to do summer classes. Then again, Millie's a pretty big optimist…_ He cocked his head. "You're not gonna be stuck doing work all summer though, right?" He remembered that Millie had been making plans to visit her family in August.

Millie shook her head and grinned. "Nope, just in June!" She leaned on Spinner's shoulder. "But I dunno if I'm gonna be able to visit you while I'm gone. Do you think you can handle not seeing me for a whole month?"

"Wait," Spinner replied, confused. "You mean it's not just summer classes up at the school? Where do they want you to go?"

Millie shrugged. "They didn't really say in the email, but once I send one back they'll probably call and tell me then. Ever since that while USJ thing, all the teachers are really cagey about telling people where we're going and what we're doing." She looked up at Spinner and smiled sweetly. "But I'll text you while I'm there, so it's not like we're totally separated!"

Spinner smiled back at her. "That sounds great," he replied. "I'm gonna be busy during the first part of June with work anyway, so we can go out after that."

"I love when stuff works out like that," she replied with a sigh. They both lay back down on the bed. "Wanna spend the day in bed? We can move to the couch-sofa and watch a new show, and I can get some food delivered..."

Spinner nuzzled her neck, and she giggled. "Sounds like a plan."


	10. Chapter 10

The first thing Millie noticed when she woke up was how dark it was. She hadn't woken up before dawn in a long time, and had gotten used to seeing a bit of light peeking through her curtains when her eyes opened. But when her alarm had gone off today, the only light she saw was from her cell phone as her alarm played a twinkly melody. Her usual snooze bubble was still floating around above her head, and she groggily reached out to check the time. _Ugh, 4:30 am? Why did I even set it this early..._She pressed the snooze button and rolled over to fall back asleep. A few seconds later, she realized why she had set her alarm so early.

_THE SUMMER CAMP! I TOTALLY FORGOT!_

Her thought bubble immediately burst, and she scrambled to her closet to find a bag to throw her clothes and supplies in. She unzipped a light blue suitcase open and a few outfits crawled out from her dresser drawers and slipped off of hangars in her closet; they all scrambled into the suitcase and quickly folded themselves inside. Millie grabbed a hairbrush and toothbrush from her bathroom, and a few spare hair ties, and haphazardly placed them in a smaller compartment inside the suitcase. She grabbed her phone's charger and tossed it inside as well, and then grabbed a few dozen armfuls of candy and snacks from her pantry. _If I'm gonna be gone for a whole month, I'm gonna make sure I have enough food to last that long! _

_Okay, I'm supposed to get to the entrance of the Beast's Forest by 5 am to help set things up and put my stuff away, _she thought to herself. _So I should leave here in...ten minutes? Five? Ugh, I can't plan stuff this early in the morning..._ She jogged to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of iced coffee from the fridge to wake herself up, as well as a can of whipped cream. She chugged the iced coffee, sprayed some whipped cream into mouth as a chaser, and gave a satisfied sigh. _Ahhh, much better! _She decided to take the whipped cream with her in case she needed some more sugar to get her through the morning, so she put the cap back on it and tossed it into the suitcase as well.

She grabbed the small toy wand off of her dresser and held it above her head before crying out, "Hero Costume Transformation Sequence!" Instantly, she was surrounded by a beam of multicolored light that lifted her into the air. She felt her pyjamas disappear and turn into her Hero costume, and her hair began to magically style itself into her usual two pigtails. Her feet softly landed on the ground, and she eyed herself in the mirror in front of her. She gave her reflection a small thumbs up, and her reflection winked at her from the other side.

"Oooh, who is this cute chick?" her reflection asked teasingly. "I've never seen someone so pretty since...me!"

Millie smirked and stuck her tongue out. "You _are _me, dummy!" she replied. They both laughed, and Millie abruptly stopped. "Wait, I gotta get ready to go," she reminded herself. "Can't get distracted by playing with Mirror Me again; last time, she and I got into a debate over the best Spongebob season and I missed half of my classes..." She gave Mirror Millie a small wave, and continued getting her things together. Her phone started buzzing, and Mirror Millie pointed at it.

"Hey, want me to answer it?" she asked. Millie nodded while she continued tossing things into her bag. Mirror Millie answered the phone reflected inside her mirror space, and somehow the actual phone picked up. "Hi, this is Mirr-this is Millie,," she answered sweetly.

"It's Aizawa. You almost here?"

"Almost," Mirror Millie replied, eyeing the real Millie as she zipped everything up. "She-I'll be there in like, one minute. We're meeting up at the north end of the forest near the main building, right?"

"That's right," Aizawa replied. "Make sure you're not followed. Ragdoll and Mandalay will meet you there and take you inside to get you settled, and I'll be arriving with the rest of my class later today."

"Got it," Mirror Millie confirmed. "See you later! Oh, also Ms. Joke wanted me to ask you something-Would you wanna go to Italy or France for your honeymoon together?"

Aizawa was silent for a second, and Mirror Millie thought she heard him mutter something close to "It's too early in the morning for this shit…"

"Just get to the front entrance by 5:00."

He hung up, and Mirror Millie lay down on the reflection of Millie's bed. Millie leaned the suitcase upright, and grabbed her actual phone to put in her pocket. "Thanks, Mirror Me," she said, giving her reflection another wave. "I'm headed out!"

Mirror Millie yawned and gave Millie a wave before climbing under her covers. "Have fun doing stuff this early," she replied. "I'm gonna sleep twice as long for the both of us." She fell asleep, and Millie headed out of her bedroom.

"Let's see, it's...4:50 now," she said to herself. "How should I get there...Hmm, what haven't I done in a while?" She thought for a moment, and then snapped her fingers. "Ooh, a star wipe!" She closed her eyes and concentrated for a few seconds and when she opened them, her room began to contort into the shape of a giant star. The star shape enveloped everything around Millie, including herself, and then everything zoomed upward. Before Millie could blink, she found herself outside of a forest. Standing a few meters in front of her were Mandalay and Ragdoll from the Pussycats, looking a bit shocked to see Millie appear out of nowhere from a star-shaped hole in reality before it disappeared like nothing had happened.

Millie leaned against her suitcase and waved at them. "Hey!" she greeted. "I'm not late, right?"

Mandalay shook her head and smiled. "Nope! In fact, you're a few minutes early," she replied. She and Ragdoll shook Millie's hand. "It's nice to finally meet you, and we really appreciate you coming out to help us on such short notice. Here, let's start walking."

Millie followed the two Heroes down a dirt pathway into the forest, and they all chatted with each other as they headed towards the main building. "So, what exactly am I gonna be doing here?" Millie asked. "Mr. Aizawa didn't really explain much, even after I got the email and called him."

"Well, you'll be with Eraserhead and the rest of us on night duty," Ragdoll explained. "The six of us will work in shifts and patrol certain areas of the camp to make sure nobody tries to enter the training camp while the students are sleeping. And during the day, you'll be helping out with some of the student's training." She held up two fingers. "Two of the first year students will practice using their Quirk together, and they both need an endless supply of food in order to train. So if it's not too much trouble, we thought you could generate their snacks using your Quirk."

Millie nodded. "Totally! I might need to take breaks every once in a while though," she replied. "Using Toon Force for something small like that isn't that hard, but doing it for a long time can wear me out a bit."

Mandalay smiled. "Of course! I thought it would be a good idea to have you try to train your Quirk as well while you're with the younger students," she replied. "You could try to stretch the limits of how long you can use it for something minor. I'm sure the younger students would love a chance to train alongside an upperclassman who's already a licensed Hero."

They arrived at the training camp's main building, and Millie spotted the final two members of the Pussycats by the front door. Pixie-Bob and Tiger were both carrying boxes filled with training equipment, and Millie gave them a friendly wave. They both waved back as best as they could with their arms full of equipment. "Is this the third year Aizawa told us about?" Pixie-Bob asked. She set her box down, and summoned a pillar of earth underneath it. It swallowed the box whole, and then disappeared under the earth and shuffled down the dirt path to one of the training facilities. Tiger set down his box, and Pixie-Bob summoned another blob of dirt to carry his package as well in a different direction. They both walked towards Millie, Ragdoll, and Mandalay.

"Yep!" Millie replied with a salute. "I just need to put my stuff away, and then I can get to work." The five of them headed inside the main building, and Ragdoll led Millie to a door on the first floor.

"The cabin we're staying in can only house four people," she explained apologetically. "So you and Aizawa are sleeping on the first floor next to the student's rooms." She pointed at Millie's door, and another one on the opposite side of the hallway. They both walked inside Millie's room, and Millie nonchalantly tossed her suitcase next to the bed. "It's a bit small, but unlike the students you have it all to yourself!"

Millie bounced on her heels excitedly. "I can't wait to start! What am I doing first?" she asked. Ragdoll laughed and they both exited the main building.

"I've never seen someone so energetic this early in the morning," she replied. "Well, it's about 5:30 now. Class 1A and 1B should be heading towards the training area near our cabin. Most of the equipment is set up, so you'll just go to the area where Yaoyarozu and Sato will be training and start summoning some food for them." She shrugged. "After that, we'll just have you head to students and use your Quirk depending on what they need. Aizawa mentioned that you can use it in a lot of different ways, but your main focus should be on students that overexert or injure themselves. None of the others have Quirks that can heal injuries, but you can, right?"

Millie gave a thumbs up. "I'm no Recovery Girl, but I can handle that." They traveled down a path leading to a cabin and a clearing filled with various pieces of training equipment. Millie saw Aizawa behind a group of exhausted teenagers; a few of them were sleepily leaning against each other, their eyes drooping and their heads nodding every few seconds. Ragdoll waved over at Aizawa, who greeted her with a nod.

The other Pussycats appeared from another path, and were followed by the hero Vlad King; like Aizawa, King also had a group of sleepy students behind him. Tiger was in the middle of dividing the students into different groups. "If you have a power-augmenting Quirk, you'll be with me," he declared. "Operative-type Quirks will be up ahead near Pixie-Bob, heteromorphic and composite-types will be near the rock structures up ahead, and the rest of you have equipment set up for your specific Quirk."

The students immediately ran to their respective training grounds, and Mandalay pointed Millie towards a table where two students from 1A were standing. "Those are the two students you're making food for," she explained. "Make sure they have an endless supply!" Millie nodded and jogged over to the table.

"Hi! I'm supposed to make a bunch of snacks for you guys," she greeted. "Do you both need sweets, or does your Quirk work better with other types of food?"

A young man with a muscular build and large lips raised his hand. "My Quirk's powered by sugar," he replied. "But Yao-momo's isnt." The girl next to him nodded demurely.

"I use the lipids in my body to create things," she explained. "So foods with a high fat content would be ideal for me."

Millie nodded and grabbed a large basket of candy and baked goods that had inexplicably been hiding in her hair. She set it on the table in front of the boy, and then produced another basket of food from her hair and set it next to the girl. This time, it contained nothing but fatty foods: hamburgers with avocado, french fries, fried chicken, cheese with buttered crackers, and a few bottles of water for each of them. Millie set down the second basket, and leaned back in the chair next to them. "My name's Millie, by the way," she added. "Just hit me up when your food's running low!"

The two of them nodded. "I'm Yaoyarozu Momo, but please just call me Momo," the girl greeted politely. "And this is Sato!" Sato waved and immediately started gorging himself on the sweets in his basket. Momo was taken aback by his sudden pigout, and Sato nodded towards her.

"C'mon, Momo," he urged with a mouth full of food. "We need to get as much fuel as possible!"

Momo blushed and immediately started eating to catch up to Sato. Millie started pulling spare food baskets out of her hair, and began placing them underneath the table. She leaned her elbows behind her head and looked out at the other students training. "Man," she muttered, "I wish I'd gotten to go to the first-year camp with everyone else…" She pouted. Millie had transferred to UA in her third year, so she hadn't gotten the chance to experience everything her fellow students had. She'd taken the entrance exam to get in, but as the only prospective transfer student that semester she had taken it by herself; with a smile, she recalled that she had taken out a record number of robots with a gigantic ACME magnet.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice suddenly appearing in her head-Mandalay. _"After they finish their first batches of food, have Sato run around the endurance track until he can't take it anymore and have Momo begin creating large, complex items. I've already informed them of what they'll be doing between their eating breaks, so just have a timer ready for them. Give them shorter and shorter breaks each time!" _Millie nodded, and whipped out her phone. She opened the app timer on her phone, and noticed a new text message from Shuichi.

How's your first day of 'summer school'? You miss me yet? ;)

Millie smirked and texted him back after sending Sato off to run around the nearby track.

You know i do! waking up early sucks when you arent the one doing it to me. can't cuddle my phone alarm… ;3

Millie put her phone back in her pocket and sighed. _I __do __miss Shu, _she thought. _I hope he's doing alright now that we can't meet up for a whole month. Good thing his job keeps him pretty busy...what's his job again? _She furrowed her brow and tried to remember, but couldn't quite recall what he had said to her when she asked. _He was kinda vague about it. Delivieries, I think? I know he said it didn't pay much. _Millie smiled and imagined Shuichi in a postman's outfit. _He's already super hot, but I __love __a guy in a uniform..._

Unbeknownst to her, a thought bubble had appeared above her head with crayon drawings of hearts, lipstick marks, and a postman uniform. Aizawa looked over and saw Millie, rocking in her chair a bit and smiling blissfully. A few other students noticed her thought bubble and snickered a bit.

"Oi!"

The thought bubble popped, and Millie lurched forward in surprise while yelling, "Waaaagh-I-wasn't-daydreaming-about-my-boyfriend-in-a-sexy-outfit-I-promise!" The students snickered again, and Tiger glared at them.

"If you've got energy to laugh at her, you clearly aren't putting everything into this," he barked. "Don't waste our time and give me everything you've got!"

Aizawa raised an eyebrow at Millie. "Whatever you're doing, you're not focusing,," he chided. "Set an example for these students. They're giving their all-so should you."

Millie blushed and nodded. "Yessir!" She set her phone on silent, and then jumped up onto her chair. "Okay, break time's over, you two. Sato, start running! Momo, start making stuff! Goooo!" Her timer started with a loud chime, and a burst of confetti burst from her hands as she signaled Sato and Momo to start exercising. _Let's get to work!_


	11. Chapter 11

The first day of training had already wiped out most of the first-years; when it was time for dinner Millie noticed most of them were groaning and dragging their feet to the outdoor picnic area, clearly exhausted from hours of honing their Quirks. _I'm lucky I'm just helping out the teachers, _she thought. _All I had to do was help set up stuff and make snacks for a few hours. _

She grabbed a bowl and filled it with some beef stew, and sat down next to a few of the first years. There was a young girl with short brown hair, who was sleeping at the end of the table with her head down. Next to her was a tall muscular boy with glasses was handing out napkins to everyone, and urging them not to make a mess. Across from Millie's seat, there was a small boy furiously writing into an old notebook with his name on it ('property of: Midoriya Izuku'), muttering under his breath. Millie noticed he was covered in quite a few bandages from injuries he'd gotten during training.

The tall boy with glasses noticed that there was someone else at the table, and his brow furrowed. She wasn't a member of Class 1B, and she definitely wasn't from 1A. He vaguely remembered a brightly-dressed girl supervising Momo and Sato, but he was so focused on his own training that he didn't really give her a second thought. She seemed a bit too young to be a Pro, though. "Ah, you were with Aizawa-sensei and the Pussycats this morning, right?" He handed her a napkin and gave a small bow. "My name is Tenya Iida."

Millie took the napkin and smiled. "I'm Millie," she replied cheerily. She started folding the napkin into an origami bird as she talked. "Hey, you're the guy who got everyone to calm down in the hallway when the press was trying to get into UA, right? I remember seeing you fly up and flip onto the wall!" She giggled and imitated the pose he had made when he collided into the wall, holding her arms up.

Iida blushed as he remembered that day. "Yes, that was me," he replied. "Normally, I have much more control when using my Quirk, but after Uraraka-san made me float I was a bit less...coordinated." He gestured towards the sleeping girl next to him, and then head cocked a bit. "Wait, if you were there, does that mean you're also a student at UA?"

Millie nodded. "Yep! I'm a third year though, so you probably haven't seen me that much," she explained. "Aizawa asked me to help out here with the training camp stuff since all the other third years are busy working at their agencies." She placed her napkin on the table and ate a few spoonfuls of soup. "But I work at an agency that's more, like, low-key and doesn't involve much active responder work, so I got to come here and help out for extra credit over the summer."

The green-haired boy looked up from his notebook after she mentioned being a third-year and working at a Hero agency. He had barely noticed that someone was sitting in front of him, and now he was face-to-face with an upperclassman that was already working as a Hero. "You work at an agency?" he asked, his mind burning with questions to ask her about Hero work. "Which one?"

Millie ate a bit more soup. "Smile Agency," she responded between gulps. "Miss Joke runs it. Like I said, we don't do typical 'punch Villains and save people from burning buildings' stuff; we try to get kids out of bad home situations, reach out to struggling families, stuff like that." She smiled warmly. "I became a Hero because I wanted to help kids who were in trouble, so Smile was my top choice. A bunch of other agencies reached out to me, and when they saw I went to work there they were really bummed; they kept saying it was a waste of a powerful Quirk for me to work there, but you don't always have to fight Villains to save people, right?"

He nodded in agreement. "I think there are a bunch of different facets of Hero work," he replied. "Wait, what is your Quirk? The agencies you mentioned said it was a waste to use it at Smile...is it more suited for combat?" He gripped his notebook, eager to learn about a new Hero's Quirk.

Millie scrunched up her face. "I mean, it _can _be used to fight," she replied, "But also for a lot of other stuff. My Quirk lets me do anything a cartoon can, so if I'm creative about how I use it I can do any kind of work." She paused and finished the last of her soup. "At Smile, I mainly use it to make the kids feel less scared. A lot of them come from abusive homes, they're bullied, and when people from Child Services tell you that you have to come with them it can be really scary. But they like me because of my Quirk, and I'm just naturally good with kids."

Izuku's eyebrows raised. "So, your Quirk is really versatile," he replied, scribbling in his notebook. "Could you give me a few examples of how you would use it? In combat ideally, but also how you use it at the agency."

Millie thought for a moment. "Well, say a Villain pushes me off a building and I fall," she began. "I'd use my Quirk to hit the ground and fold up like an accordion, with sound effects and everything. See, I have to think of some silly way to use it like that. My only problem with Toon Force is that it only works if what I do is funny. So in a fight, I constantly have to think of ways to do that." She twirled one of her pigtails. "And if I use it way too much, I get dizzy and pass out. I always pass out in a funny way, though-one time during class, I was sparring with Nejire and after I went past my limit, an anvil fell from the sky and just BAM! Knocked me on the head. Some little birds tweeted around my head, and Nejire said that there were X's where my eyes should be while I was knocked out."

Izuku wrote as she talked, muttering again. "So, it's a Quirk that can bend reality with the condition that it has to be used in a comedic way...hmmm, the limit on it could be based on her stamina, or maybe it has a limit on how many times it can be used in one instance?"

While they were talking, Uraraka had groggily raised her head. Iida placed a small bowl of soup near her. "Uraraka-san, you're awake! Here, eat this," he urged. "You need to restore some of your strength after training so hard."

Uraraka blinked sleepily. Her hair had a small cowlick near where her hair was parted, and there were faint circles under her eyes. She nodded and ate a few spoonfuls of soup. "Thanks, Iida," she replied. "Ugh, I just want this nausea to go away. And to sleep some more…" She yawned and noticed Millie, happily chatting with Izuku while he scribbled more notes. "Oh, wasn't she working with Momo and Sato?" Uraraka waited until Millie had finished speaking to Izuku, and gave her a small wave.

Millie waved back, and suddenly her eyes widened. "Woah, no way!" she exclaimed, pointing at Uraraka's face. "You have cheekmarks too! We're cheek twins!" Millie pointed at the small pink circles on her cheeks; they were a slightly different shade of pink than Uraraka's, and a little bit larger, but they were both ovals. A small firework went off above Millie's head, and after it burst it formed the words '**CHEEK TWINS!**' above her head in pink sparkles. She reached out to high five Uraraka, who weakly returned it. This was a weird way to wake up.

"Yeah, cheek twins," Uraraka replied gently. She rested her cheek in her hand, and started to doze off again. Iida slowly moved her soup bowl out of the way as her head sank onto the table. "Zzzzz…."

Millie offered to take everyone's empty dishes, since most of the other students were too tired to move. Before long, she had a wobbly tower of about 30 bowls. She held ten of them in each hand, before she realized it'd be a lot easier to just use her Quirk to carry them. She tossed a stack of 15 bowls in the air and quickly caught them all so that they landed in a perfect tower on top of one of her pigtails. She did it again with the other stack of bowls, this time on her right pigtail. She carefully made her way to the large sink near the dining area and tossed the bowls into the soapy depths.

Millie reached under her hat to check if Shu had messaged her during the day. She had felt bad about slacking off and daydreaming at the start of the day, so she had placed it there to avoid texting Shu every few minutes when she was supposed to be helping the students. There was a text message from Shu with a photo attached, sent around an hour ago. It was a shot of the sun setting over Kamino Ward, and she could tell by the angle that Shu had taken it from the rooftop of a skyscraper. _Ooh, he's such a daredevil! _The sunset was a brilliant backdrop, with the sky fading from a cozy orange to the cold blue of nighttime; the clouds were a soft shade of pink. Millie read the caption Shu had written:

**Saw the color of the clouds and thought of your hair. I know you still have a whole month at the camp thing but I miss you so much already 3**

Millie's cheekmarks immediately turned into hearts, along with her pupils. She texted him back.

**Shuuuuu, that's so sweet! I miss you too T.T**

**I'll call you later when everyone's gone to bed, if you want! Maybe we can make it a video chat, if you wanna do it face to face :3**

Her phone buzzed again a few seconds later.

**Wish I could, but I have to work. :'(**

**It's an important delivery, so I won't be able to talk and it'll take all night**

**But tomorrow we can video chat, I promise.**

Millie frowned in disappointment. _Aww, I really wanted to talk with him today… _She shrugged to herself. _If he's working on something important tonight for his job though, I don't wanna distract him. _She smirked. _Well, maybe I'll distract him a little…_

She sent him another text:

**I'll be sure to wear something cute for you tomorrow then ;P**

She looked around to make sure nobody nearby was watching her and took a picture of herself. She was winking cheekily at the camera, and pulling the collar of her Hero outfit to reveal a lacey bra strap. After she sent the message, she giggled as she imagined Shu blushing furiously. _He's so cute when he's flustered._

Before he could text her back, Millie was approached by Mandalay. "Ah, Millie?" she asked. "I wanted to tell you what hours you'll be doing nighttime patrols."

Millie jumped in surprise at Mandalay's voice, and then composed herself. _I really hope she didn't see me taking a sexy picture for Shu…_"Oh, okay!" she replied eagerly. "We're working in shifts, right? I have some energy drinks if someone gets tired, by the way. I can get them from my bag if you want."

Mandalay laughed. "I'm sure Aizawa will appreciate a few," she replied playfully. "Your shift is from 11 PM to 2 AM, after Tiger's shift. All you have to do is follow the paths that go around the perimeter of the camp, and keep an eye out for anything suspicious. If something does happen and you encounter an intruder, you have full permission to use your Quirk." She was quiet for a moment. "But that's just a worst-case scenario," she added quickly. She didn't sound that sure, but Millie didn't pay it any mind.

"You can count on me, Ma'am!" Millie made a mock salute, and a small UA flag popped out from the top of her hat. Mandalay laughed, and the worry in her voice vanished completely. Millie turned around in the direction of the student cabin. "Hmm, it's a little past 9 right now...I'm gonna head to my room and take a nap then," she said. "I'll set an alarm on my phone to wake up and wait for Tiger to tag me in." Mandalay nodded and they waved to each other as Millie walked to the dorms.

_A three-hour nighttime patrol? _Millie thought to herself._ I'm glad I packed a bunch of candy…_ She bounced on her heels, and used her Quirk to jump on the path as though she were on a trampoline. Every step propelled her closer to the dorms, and was punctuated with a loud _BOOOOOING! _On the last jump, she tripped and somersaulted through the main door into the lobby. The students inside turned to face the door, startled by the sudden blur of pink rolling past the main entrance. She rolled all the way past them, down the hallway, took a right, and finally collided with her front door. Millie jumped to her feet and went into her room. She set an alarm on her phone for 10:50, grabbed a few energy drinks and snacks from her bag for the patrol, and then flopped onto her bed to take a nice, relaxing nap.


	12. Chapter 12

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"strong8:50 pm, Forest Training Camp/strong/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Millie bounded out of the dorm's front door, her arms filled with snacks and energy drinks. She saw Tiger slowly walking towards her on the same dirt path; she tried to give a wave, and a few bags of marshmallows fell onto the ground. Tiger raised an eyebrow at Millie and approached her. "You're not going to be able to patrol very well with all that junk food in your arms," he said gruffly. /span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Millie shrugged, took off her hat, and tossed the bags of food inside; she put the cap on with a small flourish and grinned. "No problem!" She put her hands on her hips. "So, I just go around the outer path and go around the forest, right?"/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Tiger nodded. "If you encounter anyone, have them identify themselves. If they don't respond or if they attack, notify one of us using this-" He handed her a small walkie-talkie, which Millie attached to her waist. "Restrain them by any means necessary, and we'll arrive as soon as we can." He crossed his arms. "The students are spread across the forest for a training exercise, but the path you'll be patrolling is more or less out of their way; they've also been told not to stray too close to that path unless told to, but I guarantee there'll be a few that decide not to listen. If you come across one along the path, tell them to turn around or they'll get put into the supplementary course with Aizawa."/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Millie nodded. "You got it," she replied, giving Tiger a thumbs-up. She skipped down the patrol path and Tiger headed inside the main building. When she was out of sight, she reached under her hat and pulled out a bag of MMs to munch on while she walked. /span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"strong8:45 pm, Kamino Ward/strong/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Spinner was helping Toga adjust her new gear from Giran when he felt his phone buzz. Once it fit her properly, he sat down on the couch in the bar. Twice was lying down on the couch as well, his legs crossed while he hummed a tune. "Hey, Spinner, are you excited too? It's our first major mission!" He then shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't really care that much."/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Spinner leaned back. "Yeah, I am," he replied. "It's nice to finally do something after months of planning and laying low." He frowned. "Honestly, I'm kinda nervous. I know we've planned everything out, but you never know if something is gonna go wrong in the field."/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Giran laughed. "Everyone gets nervous like that at first when they start out," he replied. "Just put it in the back of your head, focus on what you're supposed to do, and you'll be fine." He held up a shiny bodysuit that looked like it was made of latex. "Can someone help Moonfish get into his new suit?"/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Everyone in the room immediately responded, almost in unison. "Not it!" Twice was the last to say it, and he groaned. /span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Fine, but he better not get drool all over me again!" He hopped off of the couch and took the suit from Giran before heading into the nearby room Moonfish was napping in. Moonfish was a powerful member of the League, but he preferred to be alone when he wasn't "hunting". The other League members heard the muffled sound of Twice's voice. "Hey, Moonfish, buddy? I have your new suit...C'mon, don't you want to try it on? It'll look great on you, you ugly asshole!" /span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Spinner looked around the room. /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Looks like everyone's excited for tonight, /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"he remarked. Toga was standing in front of a mirror, twirling and admiring her new mask and blood collectors. Compress was straightening his tie next to her, and complimenting her new look. Tomura was talking with Kurogiri, going over the plan and strategizing how to adjust it in case something went awry. Muscular was trying on his new prosthetics, testing them out as he stretched and lifted a spare table to test how they felt when he moved. Even Dabi seemed eager-he was leaning nonchalantly against the wall as usual, but upon closer inspection you could see him bouncing his foot./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Spinner decided to check his phone before the mission started. /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Hopefully she won't be too upset about not being able to talk tonight, /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"he thought with a pang of guilt. He hated keeping secrets from her, and he really did want to see her-even if it was just a phone chat, he missed her. There was a new message from Millie. He opened it and his eyes widened at the risque photo she'd sent him. She was standing outside in front of a building, smiling devilishly at the camera and revealing a light blue bra strap. After reading the caption she had added, he could feel his cheeks burning. /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"She may look sweet and innocent, but she is such a tease.../span /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"He quickly saved the photo to his phone and put it back in his pocket before anyone could see what was making him so hot and bothered. He tried his best to act casually (and ignore the slight tightness of his pants) and looked around the room again./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Magne was using a small washcloth to wipe a smudge off the lenses on Mustard's helmet, to his displeasure. "C'mon, Magne, I can see just fine," he whined. She rolled her eyes./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Just now you mistook Dabi for Tomura," she replied. "Now hold still!" Magne huffed and crossed his arms, but he complied as she cleaned his mask. She stood back and smiled. "Better?"/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Mustard sighed. "Yes, actually," he replied. "Thanks, Big Sis…"/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Magne gave him a small pat on the shoulder and smirked. "No problem, sweetie!" /span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Giran clapped his hands together, and the League members turned to face him. "Alright kids, tonight's the night," he announced. "Kurogiri's warping you all near your assigned places about 1 kilometer away from the training camp. Up first is Dabi and Twice, then Mustard and Muscular, Moonfish and Toga, Spinner, Compress, and Magne." He leaned against the couch and lit a cigarette. /span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Tomura looked out at his League. /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Raid's about to start. Just get everyone in the queue, make sure they know their role, and the boss will be a breeze. /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""The warp gates might place you a few hundred meters off from your location," he added. "Find your way to your assigned spot, and stay hidden until then. If anyone sees you, either knock 'em out or kill 'em if they fight back." He glanced at Dabi. "Once you're in the Forest and at your position, message Kurogiri on your burner phone. He'll take a gate to the warehouse and send in a Nomu that's trained to listen to you."/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Dabi gave a thumbs-up and smirked. "I always wanted a pet," he replied. "Thanks, boss." /span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Magne called out to Twice, who was still with Moonfish. "Twice, are you and Moony ready?" A few thumps and yelps came from the door./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Uh, yeah! Moonfish is naked and he won't let me help him put the suit on!"/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Toga and Mustard snickered, and Giran stepped inside to help Twice. There were a few muffled sounds that the other League members could hear a few decipherable words from Giran: "This suit helps you hunt-" "New flesh to dig into-" "Just try it on, buddy." After a minute or so the three of them emerged. Moonfish was sporting his new bodysuit, and a thin string of drool was already dripping onto the shiny latex from his mouth. /span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Alright, now that that's over with," Giran continued, "Twice and Dabi, you're going in first." Kurogiri raised his hand, and a dark purple warp gate appeared next to him. The two of them stepped through the portal, and walked into darkness. The gate disappeared behind them, and Kurogiri created another warp gate for Muscular and Mustard./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Muscular smirked at the schoolboy next to him. "This is your first real fight, small fry," he teased. "Think you can keep up with the rest of us?"/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Mustard shrugged. "Between my gas and my gun, I think I'll manage," he replied coolly, resting a hand on the pistol hidden under his school jacket. There was a slight quake in his voice, and Muscular chuckled as they stepped through their portal./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Toga stepped forward, and she looked down at her mask. "Giran, do I really have to wear this?" she asked with a pout. "You said it'd be cute…" /span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Giran put a hand on her shoulder. "Kid, you make anything look cute," he replied playfully. "Besides, this thing will make collecting blood a breeze for you." Toga grinned and caressed one of the blood containers attached to her back. Kurogiri opened a portal, and the two Villains stepped through. Moonfish tottered behind her, licking his lips at the prospect of hunting for new delicious flesh. /span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Spinner, Magne, and Compress walked to Kurogiri. He raised another portal in front of them, and they stepped through. Before Spinner knew it, the three of them were surrounded by thick pine trees. The sound of cicadas buzzed all around them, and the moon was rising into the sky. Compress took a few steps forward and scanned the area for the path he had seen on the map of the training camp. "I'm headed north of here to find a good spot to lay low," he said, keeping his voice low. "You two have fun!" He silently made his way through the trees, and before long he was out of sight./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Magne and Spinner crept through the forest until they found the clearing from their assigned position on the map. There were a few students there, as well as two Pro Heroes in cat-themed outfits. The two Villains knelt down behind a pair of trees. "On my mark," Spinner whispered. Magne nodded. /span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""3...2...1."/span/p 


	13. Chapter 13

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"strong9:38 pm, Forest Training Camp/strong/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Millie was on her second lap around the forest pathway, and had eaten about a third of her snacks. She let out a small yawn and cracked open another energy drink. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"I know it's important, but patrolling sure is boring when there isn't anything happening... /spanAfter taking a few swigs, she heard the faint yells and screams of frightened students followed by uproarious laughter. She smirked. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"I'm glad they're having fun. I know they're supposed to be training hard to become Heroes, but this is still a summer camp! /span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"After a few minutes, she found herself passing a clearing she had noticed on her first trip around the forest's perimeter. This time however, something felt...off. Instead of the slight fog that hung over the treetops, there was a thicker, purple cloud. It had a sickly sweet scent that made Millie feel nauseous and dizzy, even from far away. She cautiously put a hand on the radio Tiger had given her. "Um, there's a weird fog that's coming from one part of the forest," she began. "I'm about half a kilometer past the midpoint, down on the loop path in the south. Is there a student with a Quirk that makes purple smoke that makes you dizzy?" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"A few seconds later, Ragdoll's voice crackled over the speaker. "I'm at the midpoint now," she replied, her voice a bit tense. "I can see the smoke you're talking about from here. Hang tight, I'll be there in about one minute. strongDon't /stronggo in by yourself, okay?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Millie bit her lip, trying not to worry. "Yeah, okay," she replied, her hand clenching the speaker. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Is someone really attacking the camp? /spanShe looked around, anxiously peering at the path behind her for Ragdoll in the distance. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"It's nothing we can't handle, /spanshe thought to herself optimistically. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"I mean, there's five Pros and I'm here too! It's probably just a student pulling a prank or something, anyway. /span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of yelling coming from all sides of the forest. There was a large span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"BOOM! /spanthat came from the north cliffs; even though it was kilometers away, Millie felt the earth below her tremble from the force. The purple fog began to spread at a faster pace. Millie backed up and reached under her hat for something to protect her face from the strange smoke. After hurriedly rummaging around, she found a bottle of bubble soap and a small wand. She quickly blew a large bubble, and placed it around her head as a helmet. Her hands flew to the radio again. "The fog is spreading, and I just heard a big explosion," she said. "Ragdoll, if you're still coming here, the smoke is gonna be too thick for you to see and you'll pass out. If you don't have something to help you breathe, just turn around, okay? I'm gonna go in and find out who's spreading the gas, and then get a better look at what's going on when it's gone."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"There was no reply from Ragdoll, or anyone else. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"They might already be fighting someone, /spanMillie thought. She ran into the forest searching for the thickest area of fog and hopefully, searching for the Villain making it. After a few minutes of running, she found herself lost in the thick purple haze. Even through her bubble helmet, she could still smell the cloying, dizzying scent. "Ugh, c'mon! Think, Millie," she told herself. "What would Bugs Bunny do?" She thought for a moment, and twirled her pigtails. Suddenly, a lightbulb flashed over her head. "My hair!" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Millie began to swing her head in a circle, causing her pigtails to sway and spin. After a few seconds of building momentum, the pigtails began to swing faster and faster, until they were a pink blur whizzing around Millie's head. The fog around her began to disappear from the sudden rush of air, and Millie found herself hovering a few feet above the ground. Now that she had a bird's eye view of the forest, she scanned the area for any students who needed help or Villains nearby. She saw someone moving a few hundred meters to the right. The smoke obscured most of their bodies, but she could see three distinct figures-one with a messy auburn ponytail, one with metallic skin, and one that was almost completely obscured in a layer of fog. The first two figures were attacking the third, and Millie assumed that the third figure was the Villain. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Millie propelled herself forward, and saw a group of students lying unconscious under a group of trees. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Those two might be able to take out the bad guy, /spanshe rationalized. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"But I need to get the unconscious ones out of danger first. What if the fog kills you if you're in it for too long? /spanShe zoomed down to the ground, clearing a plume of smoke as she hit the earth. There were two students lying next to each other, and Millie was surprised that they were both wearing gas masks. One had earlobes with headphone jacks at the end, and if the situation weren't so dire (and if she weren't knocked out) Millie would've complimented how cool she looked. The student next to her was completely invisible, and the only signs she was there were her gas mask and the fog that outlined her form. Millie grabbed a gold marker from under her hat and drew a doorknob onto the tree next to her. She put her hand around the doorknob, and swung the tree-trunk "door" open. The door led to Millie's room at the students' dormitory. Millie slung the earjack girl over her shoulder in a fireman's carry, and gently lay her down on the bedroom floor. She ran back out and carried the invisible girl into the room as well, placing her next to the first student. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Once they were inside, Millie shut the door and propelled herself above the forest again with her pigtails. As she did, she heard Mandalay's voice suddenly enter her head./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Attention, students! Villains have invaded the camp, and we have reason to believe that the target they're after is a student named Kacchan. You all have permission to use your Quirks to defend yourself; if you are near him, please help Kacchan to safety and keep him away from the Villains at all costs. I repeat, you have permission to fight! /span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The second after Mandalay finished speaking, two giant hands appeared from where the two students were fighting a Villain. Millie saw the hands clear away the surrounding gas, and she could clearly see the two students now. The one with the giant hands was the girl with auburn hair, and the metal boy was fighting a uniformed Villain wearing a gas mask. After the fog near them cleared, Millie could see more unconscious students scattered around the forest. She decided to leave the fighting to the two students, and rescue the ones who were unconscious. Each time she found a new body, she drew a doorknob on a nearby tree trunk and placed them in her room. After twenty minutes, she had rescued a total of 15 students. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She leapt into the air, ready to help the two students defeat the Villain when she heard a gunshot. Her head whipped around to find the source, and she saw the metal boy fall to his knees. The Villain raised his gun at the auburn-haired girl, and Millie quickly concentrated on the pistol./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The gun fired again, and the girl was still. After a few seconds of silence, she looked down and saw that she hadn't been hit at all. "What…?" She looked at the Villain's gun, sure she had heard it fire. Instead of a bullet, a bright red flag with the word span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"BANG! /spansprung out of the barrel. The Villain, equally as surprised, stared down at his gun. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What the he-"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"SMACK! /span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"A steel fist took out the Villain with a powerful right hook, causing him to fly backwards a few meters. The auburn-haired girl ran to make sure the Villain was unconscious, and then knelt down to tend to her injured classmate. He was breathing heavily, and covering a grazed bullet wound on his right shoulder. "Tetsu, we did it! He's knocked out. Here, let me help," she said breathlessly, trying her best to apply pressure to Tetsu's wound and stop the bleeding./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm alright, Kendo," he said, panting. He fell to the ground, flat on his back. "Just out of breath…"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Kendo knelt down to try and help him to his feet, and felt a sudden rush of dizziness. The gas was nearly gone, but she and Tetsu had inhaled a lot of it during their fight. She tried her best to fight off the drowsiness and help Tetsu to his feet. "We need to get out of here," she said firmly. "If there are other Villains nearby, we'll be easy targets."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Tetsu stared up at the night sky, and saw a brightly-dressed girl floating above them. "Stupid gas," he groaned. "I'm starting to see things…"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Kendo looked up at where Tetsu was staring, and her eyes widened. "You're not hallucinating," she replied, weakly craning her neck at the girl above them. "There's someone up there!"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Millie quickly descended to them and examined Tetsu's bullet wound. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Okay, okay, remember back to first-aid class... /spanShe pulled the thick, bright blue ribbon wrapped around her hat and stretched it as far as she could. The fabric easily extended in her arms with a rubbery sound effect coming from it, and once it was a few yards long she began tightly wrapping it around Tetsu's bullet wound. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You're the girl from dinner," Kendo said weakly, recognizing Millie. She had taken everyone's dishes and offered to put them away; Kendo was so exhausted that she hadn't thanked her, she had just placed her head down on the table and tried not to fall asleep./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yep, that's me," Millie replied, tying the end of Tetsu's tourniquet. "My name's Millie, and my Hero name is Blanc Slate; we can chat later, though. I'll get you guys somewhere safe." /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Kendo raised her head to try and protest. "Our friends might still be unconscious and in danger," she replied. "Don't worry about us, go find them, please…"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Millie smiled warmly. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"She's a good Hero, and a good friend. /span"Don't worry," she reassured, helping Kendo to her feet. "While you were fighting that creep, I got everyone in this part of the forest out of here. You both did awesome, by the way!" She winked at Tetsu. "You're like, span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"really /spangood at punching." Tetsu gave a wobbly thumbs-up in reply./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""We did fairly well for our first fight against a Villain," Kendo replied humbly, leaning against Millie's shoulder. "Wait, if you saw us, does that mean that you were the one who stopped him from shooting me?" She glanced at the gun lying a few feet from her; the red flag was still attached to it. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Millie grinned. "The ol' Bang Flag Gun trope," she replied with a giggle. "Classic, right?" She quickly drew a doorknob on a nearby tree with her free hand, and walked Kendo inside. A few of the students were already awake, and they helped set Kendo down onto Millie's bed. "Hey, you guys are awake!" Millie glanced down at a few students, still sleeping on the floor. "Well, some of you are…"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As she helped Tetsu into the room, the students eyed his bullet wound. "How do we treat this?" The girl with long earlobes spoke up, noticing the red stain seeping across the light blue fabric of the tourniquet. "He's still bleeding."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Tetsu tried to protest and say he was fine, but Millie spoke up before him. "Just keep it elevated and make sure the scarf is nice and tight around it," she replied. "If there's enough pressure, the bleeding should stop after a while." She went back out into the forest clearing, and dragged the masked Villain's unconscious body inside. The students quickly tied his hands behind his back so he wouldn't be able to escape, and placed him in a corner of the room. "If that guy wakes up, just punch him really hard," Millie said. "Once this is all over, make sure he's taken by one of the Pros or the police if they show up." She turned around and started to head back into the forest, and the invisible girl grabbed her arm. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Now that we're awake, we should go look for Bakugo," she said, clearly concerned about her classmate. "I don't know why they're after him, but we can't just sit here and do nothing!"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Millie tried her best to lay a hand on the invisible girl's wrist (or at least, where she thought her wrist was). "Look, I know you want to help your friend," she replied gently. "But you guys have already been knocked out and hurt, and you don't know how strong these other bad guys are." She turned to address everyone behind her. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"They're first-years, so they're new at this, /spanshe remarked, noticing the fear in their eyes. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"If they went out again, they'll probably just get themselves hurt again, or kidnapped, or worse…/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Aizawa should still be in the building somewhere. Find him and let him know you're safe, and do your best to barricade yourselves inside so the Villains can't get to you," she said firmly. "And if they do somehow get in, there are a bunch of you; do your best to kick their butts as quick as possible, okay?" She smiled brightly at them. "You guys are young and new to this Hero thing, but from what I've seen you're also crazy strong. I know you'll be alright."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The other students relaxed a bit. Millie sounded so sure that everything would be okay, and it made them feel a little more at ease. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Suddenly, the first year with long earlobes spoke up. She had been using her Quirk to listen for any noises outside of the dorm. "Someone's coming," she said sharply. "They're in the lobby, and their footsteps are staggered." She listened again. "Someone else is next to them. Heavier footsteps. I think they're helping the other guy walk."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Millie stepped through and shut the tree door. She looked back at the students, who were preparing to fight whoever was getting close. "Stay here and be super quiet," she said firmly, placing a hand on the door to the hallway. "I'll go find out who it is." She silently shut the door and crept out to follow the sound of the footsteps. She peered out into the lobby, and saw Aizawa sitting on one of the couches next to Vlad King. King was trying to tend to Aizawa's wounds; he was covered in fresh burn marks, and clenching his jaw to avoid making any noises indicating he was in pain. Millie took a few steps forward. "Aizawa? Are you okay?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Both Heroes snapped to attention, and relaxed when they recognized Millie. "Obviously not," Aizawa replied stiffly. "We heard your message over the radio, but by the time we realized something was happening we were attacked from all sides." He looked at the charred trees outside. "I managed to relay to Mandalay that one of the students was the target, but with these burns I won't be able to fight if another Villain comes here." He winced as King covered his wounds with some ointment from a first aid kit. "Did you see Bakugo while you were out there?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Millie shook her head. "None of the kids I brought back were named Bakugo," she replied, pointing towards her dorm. "One of the students said he was still out there somewhere."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""How many of them did you bring back?" King asked, his voice tense. He clearly wanted to know if any of his students had made it back alright. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""17 of them, so far," she replied. "There aren't any major injuries, except for one kid named Tetsu who got grazed by a bullet. Does that first aid kit have anything that could help? I wrapped it up, but I don't want it to get all infected and gross…" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Vlad King nodded. "I'll take a look at Tetsu once I finish covering his burns," he said, cocking his head towards Aizawa. "If the rest of them aren't injured badly, we should be able to defend ourselves if any of those Villains come back."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The door to Millie's room opened, and the students came rushing out. "Vlad King-sensei!" Kendo called out to her teacher. "Jirou said she heard you and Aizawa talking to Millie. Have the Villains captured Bakugo? Are there any left?" Two other students from Class 1B dragged Mustard's still-unconscious body along the floor. The 1A students gasped in shock and horror when they saw their teacher's burns. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Vlad King took Mustard from them, and looked out at the first years. "There's at least two more Villains who got away," he replied. "If Bakugo's been taken, we haven't heard anything from Mandalay." /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Aizawa looked over at Vlad King. "King, we can stay here and protect the students," he said. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What about the two Villains who escaped?" King asked./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Millie," Aizawa addressed firmly. Millie stood at attention. "The two Villains who attacked here are likely headed towards Bakugo. Mandalay ordered him not to fight, but knowing Bakugo he's probably ignored that. His Quirk allows him to create explosions, which should make him easy for you to find. Bring him back here as soon as possible." /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The Cartoon Hero nodded and started to head towards the door. "Follow the explosions, bring Bakugo back," she replied. "Got it!"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""The two Villains that attacked here probably haven't gotten far," Aizawa added. "One can create and manipulate fire, and the other has a clone Quirk. If you encounter them, try to separate them first before engaging them."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Millie nodded and smirked. "You got it, sir. I'll have Bakugo back here before you can say 'I do' to Miss Joke!" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"br /Aizawa groaned, and Millie didn't know if it was from what she said or from the pain of his burns. She sprinted out into the forest and flew into the air with her helicopter pigtails. "Okay, explosions, explosions, look for some explosions…" After a few seconds, a burst of flames erupted into the air from a forested area far along the path to the south. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Was that an explosion, or was that fire from the guy that Aizawa was talking about? /spanThe feeling in her gut made her think that even if that wasn't Bakugo, she should still head towards the source of the fire. If it was the Villain, she could take him and his partner out and then continue searching for Bakugo; and if it span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"was /spanhim, then she could take him back to safety. She flew in the direction of the bright orange flames, trying to ignore the feeling of dread that was creeping up in her stomach. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Why does it feel like something even worse is gonna happen tonight?/span/p 


	14. Chapter 14

**10:29 pm, Forest Training Camp (southern path)**

As Millie flew over the charred and burning treetops, she tried to get a better look at who was below her. There was a group of students running from a Villain who was even creepier than the guy with the gas; he was in a skintight bodysuit and shooting long jagged metal spikes from his teeth as he chased the first-years on a set of odd stilts, also made of metal. One of the students, a blond boy who was yelling so loudly that Millie could actually make out what he was saying from where she was hovering, was being dragged by one of his classmates.

"Don't try to hold me back, half-and-half!" he yelled, trying to pull away. "If these assholes want a fight with me, I'll give 'em one!"

"That's exactly what they want, Bakugo," the half-and-half student yelled back. Millie saw that one of his hands was surrounded by a small halo of orange fire, and realized his Quirk must've been what caused the fire she saw. "If the other Villains know you're with this guy they'll swarm here and take us all out. You can't take on all of them at once!"

The Villain behind them launched a set of metal spikes that just barely missed the red-and-white haired student, and Millie zoomed down to collide into the Villain before he could launch another attack. She collided into him in midair with a loud _BOOOOING! _sound effect and they both hit the ground. The Villain instinctively sat up and shot a few spikes at Millie, and she ducked down in the nick of time. He sent another set of spikes after her, and one of them grazed her left shoulder as she tried to dodge them all. She winced at the sudden pain and rolled out of the way of the next wave of spikes.

The two first-years he had been chasing turned to see who had fallen from the sky to help take out the Villain. If Millie wasn't devoting all of her thoughts to not getting skewered, she would've yelled at them to keep running while she distracted this creep. The masked Villain sent a wave of spikes all around her, with one of them hitting Millie's outer thigh. She fell to the ground, biting her lip to keep from crying out in pain. The rest of the spikes fell in formation around her, creating a crude yet effective cage to hold her in; she was pinned to the ground with two spikes on either side of her hands, tightly holding them in place. The Villain crept forward, staring at Millie's wounds.

"Such soft flesh..." He leaned over her bleeding thigh and traced the wound with one of his fingers. A glob of drool fell on her leg, and Millie felt a knot of dread and revulsion forming in her stomach. She flailed and tried to pull her wrists free, desperately kicking at the Villain leering over her. He leaned closer to her, and Millie saw that he was opening his mouth to land a close-range blow to her.

_Okay, not good, not good! _she thought frantically. _Gotta think of a way out of this... _The metal spike in his teeth was forming at an alarmingly fast pace. She looked around for anything to use to fight back, and she saw her hat lying inches away from her right hand. A glowing lightbulb suddenly appeared over Millie's head, and she turned to face away from the Villain about to gore her. She pointed with her restrained wrists, and yelled, "Woah, look at that over there!"

The Villain looked in the direction she was facing and craned his neck to see what she was talking about. _He seriously fell for that? What a dope! _Millie used two of her fingers to reach into her hat. Time for another classic! She pulled out a gigantic red magnet with the label 'ACME INC.' along the bottom. Immediately after she wrapped her fingers around it, she weakly tossed it a few inches from her. The metal spikes pinning her hands wobbled and leaned towards the magnet. With her arms free, she pulled one of the spikes from the ground and smashed it over the Villain's head. _CLAAAAANG! _A metallic echo rang out over the clearing, and the Villain's head vibrated and wobbled as if it were a tuning fork that had just been struck.

He fell to his knees, and Millie turned to see if Bakugo and the other student were still there. Thankfully, they had started to run as soon as the Villain chasing them was distracted; she could see that they had made it further down the clearing, and that Bakugo was still trying to escape his classmate's grasp so he could fight. She plopped down next to the unconscious Villain, and decided to restrain him in case he woke up. She used the ACME magnet to lift him in the air by his teeth, and slowly led him to a thick tree trunk. Then, she positioned the magnet so that he was trapped on either side of his waist, and dragged the leftover metal spikes to the other side of the tree trunk so that the magnet would stay upright and securely prevent him from moving. The strength of the magnet pulled the spikes onto the other side of the tree trunk, and Millie admired her handiwork; there was no way he was getting out of there any time soon.

Millie turned around to continue the search for Bakugo when she suddenly stopped. A few hundred yards away, she could hear the sound of two pairs of footsteps coming closer and closer. She hit behind a nearby tree and listened for any sign of who it could be.

"C'mon, Dabi, this way! We can get the Nomu later!" Millie's eyebrows furrowed; the voice sounded too deep and too old to be a student. She began to spin her pigtails again so she could avoid another confrontation, and soon was hovering a few feet in the air. The two footsteps grew closer, and soon Millie saw that she had been spotted.

Two Villains were staring up at her. One was in a black and white suit that covered his entire body, and he was panting from running so hard. The other was wearing a dark trenchcoat and was covered in burn marks. A few blue flames flickered at his fingertips.

"Oh shit, Moonfish!" the one in the onesie cried out. He ran to the nearby tree trunk and tried to pull at the magnet pinning his comrade in place. "Don't worry buddy, I'll make sure you're stuck in there in no time!" He gripped the magnet with both hands and strained with all of his might, but it was a futile effort. He turned and glanced at Millie with his head cocked. "Wait...have we met before? You don't look familiar at all..."

Millie crossed her arms. "I think I'd remember someone whose 'buddy' almost sent a metal spike thingy through my neck! You guys are real jerks, you know that?"

The burned Villain smirked. "You're really cutting deep with those insults," he replied sarcastically. "What next, you gonna call us a bunch of 'meanies'?"

"Nah," Millie replied with a smirk. She pulled a handful of lit fireworks out of her hat. "I've got a much better idea!" She tossed them down at the Villains' feet, and they immediately jumped back to find cover. A series of multicolored explosions blasted all around them, and Millie blew a raspberry before speeding off into the air to search for where Bakugo had gone.

She flew in the direction she'd last seen the two students running off, and found the red-and-white haired boy lying injured on the ground. She flew down in front of him and put a hand on his shoulder. He was bleeding from a few places after his encounter with Moonfish, and the injuries were starting to take their toll on his stamina. "Are you okay? Where did your friend go?" she asked.

"Got captured," he responded. Millie helped him up. "Bakugo and Tokoyami. Some Villain in a mask used his Quirk to turn them into marbles, and ran off that way. He mentioned something about a rendezvous point up ahead." He pointed in the direction of where the Villain had gone and summoned a rush of ice beneath them both to propel them forward.

"Waaah!" Millie latched onto the boy's shoulder to avoid slipping and falling as they sailed further into the forest. She quickly composed herself and stood on her own, and soon they were catching up to the masked Villain who was sprinting towards a clearing further along the forest path.

The first-year gritted his teeth and summoned more ice to push ahead of the Villain. He and Millie leaped off as soon as they got close enough to take on the Villain directly. There were more people in the surrounding area that Millie was just noticing. Mandalay, Pixie-Bob, and Tiger were fighting two Villains near a dark wall of purple mist, a girl in a school uniform with a creepy mask around her neck was gleefully skipping towards the wall while two female students desperately tried to stop her, and when she turned around she saw the two Villains she had seen earlier were running behind her; their faces were covered head to toe in ashes, and the smell of fireworks still lingered around them.

The red-and-white haired boy summoned a pillar of flames to slow down the Villain who had kidnapped Bakugo and Tokoyami; soon they were both surrounded by fire. "Hand them over," he barked. "You've got nowhere to run." When the Villain didn't comply, he swiftly struck him in the solar plexus; as he stumbled back, a marble fell from his coat's left sleeve. The boy snatched the marble and was about to search for the other one when a wave of blue flames flew past him. He jumped back and saw that Dabi was already summoning more fire.

"Anyone ever tell you that you sound a lot like your old man when you're angry?" he asked mockingly. The first year clenched his fists and was about to attack when Millie yanked him back by his shirt collar before he was burnt to a crisp by another sudden burst of blue fire.

"You can kick that guy's butt later," she chided. "We need to get the other marble before they all get away!"

They both dodged another rush of blue flames and chased after the masked Villain, who had used the distraction to make a run for the wall of mist. Millie made her steps bounce more and more until she was leaping through the air like she was on a trampoline, and tackled the masked Villain. The other marble flew from his outstretched fingers and soared through the air…

Right into the hands of the Villain in the school uniform. "Yaaaay, I caught it!" she cheered. She smiled sweetly at Millie and waved the marble in the air. "Thanks for the help. You're really cute, by the way!" The girl let out a small giggle that made Millie's hair stand on end.

"Uh, thanks, I guess..." Millie responded awkwardly. She was trying her best to restrain the Villain underneath her when she felt a sudden rush of nausea, like she'd eaten too much pop rocks and then downed a gallon of soda. _I'm reaching my limit already? Crud, crud, crud...How am I gonna take these guys out if I can't use my Quirk for much longer? _She felt a sudden wave of dizziness and fell on her side. The masked Villain quickly got up and disappeared through the wall of dark mist.

Meanwhile, the two Villains who were fighting the Pussycats were sprinting to reach the wall of mist to escape with the rest of their allies. Millie looked up and saw that Dabi had also made it to the portal with the Villain in the onesie. She unsteadily rose to her feet, trying not to lose consciousness. _C'mon, just one more effect...Something…_

"You're not...gonna get away..." she declared weakly, taking a few steps forward. "Jerks..."

Dabi raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you're still kicking?" he asked. "I hate to break it to ya, but I don't think you'll be able to save the day this time."

One of the Villains behind him turned his head. That voice sounded familiar...Spinner's eyes widened as he realized that the Hero in front of Dabi was none other than Millie. She was bleeding from one of her arms and her leg, and she was swaying slightly as she tried to stand upright. No. She can't be here, he thought, desperately wishing he was just having a nightmare. He tried to hide behind Magne and Twice so she wouldn't recognize him. _Shit. Shit, shit. What is she doing here!? She's supposed to be tutoring at some summer school thing- _His fists clenched as he remembered the picture she had sent him earlier with a cluster of pine trees in the background. She wasn't doing summer classes up at the school, or some training facility like USJ. She was here. _Shit._

Millie steeled her nerves and smiled. "I don't need to save the day, silly," she replied. "I just have to save Bakugo!" She reached out to strike him, and he easily caught her wrist. She winced as his grip tightened, and he snickered.

"I like you, kid," he replied with a smirk. He pulled her arm behind her back and pushed her forward so she landed on her stomach. Her hat fell down next to her, and she reached out to grab it. "But playtime's over." She looked up and saw him kneel down in front of her. He rested his palm in front of her face, and blue flames started to swirl around his fingers. Her grip tightened on her hat, and she squeezed her eyes shut.

Spinner pushed past Magne and Twice, rushing towards Dabi and Millie to pull her out of the way, to shove Dabi aside, to do something. The world felt like it had stopped spinning. Everything was slowed down to a crawl. His heart sank as he realized he wouldn't make it to them in time. " **NO!** "

_FWOOOOOOOOOM! _


End file.
